Canadian Elite Basketball League Expanding to Winnipeg
Canada’s largest pro league announces fourth expansion entering fifth season
The Canadian Elite Basketball League (CEBL), Canada’s Official First Division Professional League Partner of Canada Basketball and its only FIBA recognized league, announced Tuesday that it is expanding to Winnipeg for the 2023 season. This is the CEBL’s fourth expansion since the league launched in 2019 with six founding franchises. Details of the new franchise, including ticket information, team nickname, colours, logo, and more will be announced in the coming weeks.
“With teams in British Columbia, Alberta and Saskatchewan, and in Ontario, Quebec, and Newfoundland, having a CEBL franchise located in Manitoba unifies the geographic reach of Canada’s national pro basketball league,” said Mike Morreale, Commissioner and Co-Founder of the CEBL. “Winnipeg is an ideal market with a rich basketball history and a real passion for the game. It has always been a matter of ‘when’ not ‘if’ we would place a club in Winnipeg. Adding a team at this time in Canada’s sixth largest city builds upon our strategy to have a strong presence in the country’s largest markets. With the addition of Winnipeg and Calgary for the 2023 season coming on the heels of adding Montreal a year ago, the CEBL will now be playing in the top six and in eight of the top 10 metropolitan areas in Canada.”
People can visit CEBL.ca/WinnipegBasketball to sign up to be the first to receive detailed information about the new Winnipeg franchise as it becomes available.
A league created by Canadians for Canadians with a mission to develop Canadian players, coaches, sports executives and referees, the CEBL boasts the highest percentage of Canadian players of any pro league in the country with 71 percent of its 2022 rosters being Canadian. The league features 11 teams in seven provinces, with franchises located in Montreal, Calgary, Edmonton, Scarborough, Vancouver, St. John’s, Niagara (St. Catharines), and Saskatchewan (Saskatoon), Hamilton, and Ottawa.
Players bring experience from the NBA, NBA G League, top international pro leagues, the Canadian National team program, and top NCAA programs as well as U Sports. Nine players have moved from the CEBL into the NBA following a CEBL season, and 28 CEBL players attended NBA G League training camps during October. The CEBL season runs May through August.
More information about the CEBL is available at CEBL.ca and @cebleague on Instagram, Twitter, TikTok, LinkedIn, Facebook and YouTube.