This paper reports observations and analysis of the Rb ₂ 3 ¹Π _g state. A total of 323 rovibrational term values spanning the range of the rotational quantum number J = 7 through 77 and the vibrational quantum number v = 2 through 23 (about 1/3 of the potential well depth) were measured using the optical-optical double resonance technique. The term values are simulated within a model of a piece-wise multi-parameter potential energy function based on the generalized splines. This function not only enables a reproduction of the experimental data with a reasonable quality but also approximates the available ab initio function in its whole range with a uniform accuracy.