Canada hosts Dominican Republic and Mexico in Saskatoon as FIBA Men’s AmeriCup 2025 Qualifiers continue this November

SASKATOON, Saskatchewan (September 10, 2024) – Canada Basketball, in partnership with the Canadian Elite Basketball League (CEBL), announced Tuesday that Canada’s Senior Men’s National Team will host the second window of FIBA Men’s AmeriCup 2025 Qualifiers this November in Saskatoon.

Canada will take on the Dominican Republic on Thursday, November 21 (7:10 p.m. CT / 8:10 p.m. ET) before facing Mexico on Sunday, November 24 (2:10 p.m. CT / 3:10 p.m. ET).  Both games will take place at the SaskTel Centre in Saskatoon, and fans can catch all the action live on Sportsnet.

Single-game tickets and Team Canada 2-Packs are on sale now via Ticketmaster and start at $20 (plus applicable fees). Canada Basketball Insiders and Saskatchewan Rattlers Season Ticket Holders and Insiders have access to select inventory for both games. Tickets can also be purchased by contacting the Saskatchewan Rattlers by email at [email protected], by phone at 306-244-2182, or by visiting their head office at 2-183 2nd Ave South, Saskatoon.

Canada’s Senior Men’s National Team opened the FIBA Men’s AmeriCup 2025 Qualifiers with a pair of home-and-home victories over Nicaragua in February and currently sit undefeated 2-0 atop Group C.  During three windows, in February 2024, November 2024, and February 2025, each team will play each opponent in their group twice under a "home and away" format. 

The 16 teams in the FIBA Men’s AmeriCup 2025 Qualifiers are in four groups of four teams each.  The top three teams in each group (12 in total) will qualify for the FIBA Men’s AmeriCup 2025.

Canada’s Senior Men’s National Team is coming off a fifth-place finish at the Paris 2024 Olympic Games, its first appearance in the tournament in 24 years. It was the team’s highest finish since fourth place at the 1986 Olympic Games in Los Angeles.

Over the last several years, Canada Basketball and the CEBL have collaborated to bring more international basketball events to Canada, including several FIBA Men’s Basketball World Cup 2023 Qualifiers events and the first window of the FIBA Men’s AmeriCup 2025 Qualifiers last February.

Canada is currently ranked fifth in the latest FIBA World Ranking Men, presented by Nike. The rankings were updated following the Men’s Basketball Tournament at the Paris 2024 Olympic Games.

QUOTES

“We’re excited to bring a pair of FIBA Men’s AmeriCup 2025 Qualifiers games to Saskatoon this fall as our Senior Men’s National Team looks to take another step towards qualification for next summer’s FIBA Men’s AmeriCup 2025.  The Canadian Elite Basketball League, Saskatchewan Rattlers and Basketball Saskatchewan have done a tremendous job growing the game of basketball across the province in recent years, and we’re looking forward to working closely with each organization to deliver a world-class experience for players, teams and fans. - Michael Bartlett, President & CEO, Canada Basketball

“Once again, the CEBL is thrilled to partner with Canada Basketball to help host two more world-class FIBA AmeriCup 2025 Qualifiers, this time at the home of our Saskatchewan Rattlers at SaskTel Centre. We can't wait to join basketball fans in Saskatoon and those tuning in across the country in November to cheer on our Senior Men’s National Team looking to build on its 2-0 start.” - Mike Morreale, Commissioner & Co-Founder, Canadian Elite Basketball League

"The Government of Saskatchewan is proud to welcome the FIBA Men’s AmeriCup 2025 Qualifiers to the city of Saskatoon.  Our province has a strong record of hosting both national and international sporting competitions over the past number of years. Events such as these have spurred the record growth we're seeing in our tourism sector while creating economic spin-off benefits for the people of our province.” - Hon. Jeremy Harrison, MLA Minister Responsible for Tourism Saskatchewan Jeremy Harrison 

“Saskatchewan sports fans are going to be in for a real treat. Canada’s Senior Men’s National Basketball Team will be fantastic to watch, and SaskTel Centre and its team will be excellent hosts. Congratulations to the Saskatchewan Rattlers for their part in this. This is what Saskatchewan does best. Now let’s fill the place.” - Hon. Ken Cheveldayoff, MLA Saskatoon Willowgrove.

“We are very excited to partner with Canada Basketball to bring this world-class event to Saskatchewan as we continue to build basketball across the province and provide the fans more basketball at the highest level.” - Lee Genier, President, Saskatchewan Rattlers

“Anytime our province gets to showcase the development pathway to our members we consider that a win for the game.  It is so important to be able to see yourself reflected on the court in order to dream the big dreams, whether that’s as a player, coach or official and to be able to do that in person is invaluable.  A huge thank you to the Rattlers organization and Canada Basketball for believing that Saskatchewan is a great place to host an event of this calibre and we can’t wait to see you in the stands in November.” - Megan Penno, Executive Director, Basketball Saskatchewan