All Eyes on CEBL as 2023 Season Openers see Record Attendance

The Canadian Elite Basketball League (CEBL) is off to a record-setting pace in 2023, launching its fifth season with the highest recorded total attendance (49,944) across all venues for an opening week in league history.

The 2023 CEBL season, which tipped off May 24, saw sellouts in six markets including the Winnipeg Sea Bears’ historic single-game attendance of 7,303 – a league record – in the club’s inaugural game. The Calgary Surge also hosted a capacity crowd at their inaugural game, joining Winnipeg, Edmonton, Montreal, Scarborough and Vancouver as teams that experienced sold-out home openers this season. Montreal and Vancouver’s attendance numbers from those games were also single-game franchise records, while Niagara boasted a crowd at its 2023 home opener that was larger than any game in 2022.

“Our successful launch to the 2023 season is a testament to the continually growing support of our great fans, partners and staff across the league,” said Mike Morreale, Commissioner and Co-Founder of the CEBL. “With more eyes on our league both in our venues and through our new broadcast partnership with TSN, we’re looking forward to showcasing our CEBL brand to more basketball fans in 2023 than ever before.”

Fans can purchase tickets to CEBL games by visiting www.cebl.ca/tickets. All CEBL games are broadcast live on CEBL+ Powered by BetVictor and TSN+ with select games also available on TSN. In addition to TSN’s coverage, RDS delivers French-language coverage of select Montreal Alliance games.

About the CEBL

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. 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 last October. The 2023 CEBL season tipped off May 24 with the Brampton Honey Badgers visiting the Ottawa BlackJacks in a game that was nationally televised on TSN. More information about the CEBL is available at CEBL.ca and @cebleague on Instagram, Twitter, TikTok, LinkedIn, Facebook and YouTube.