Canadian Elite Basketball League Extends Contract of Commissioner Morreale for Six Years

The Canadian Elite Basketball League (CEBL) announced Thursday that league Commissioner and Co-Founder Mike Morreale has been signed to a six-year contract extension, running beyond the 2028 season. Morreale has served as league commissioner since its inception, leading the league before its formal launch in 2018, through the Covid-19 pandemic, and to becoming the largest pro sports league in Canada with 10 franchises across six provinces.

“In five years of taking the vision for a first rate national pro basketball league to launch and then into a growth phase that has quickly seen the Canadian Elite Basketball League emerge as the largest pro sports league in Canada, and doing that strategically and skillfully for more than two years under the unprecedented constraints of a pandemic, Mike Morreale has proven to be a visionary leader who unites people with diverse expertise to exceed expectations and deliver one of the best of the 200 FIBA leagues around the world,” said Richard Petko, who founded the CEBL in 2018 and as a member of the ownership group sits on its management committee. “Mike is a man of integrity who is exceptionally intelligent, pragmatic, creative, and inspirational. We are very pleased that he will continue to lead Canada’s pro basketball league to even greater global prominence through at least the completion of its first decade.”

When Morreale’s contract extension expires prior to the 2029 season, only Jake Gaudaur, who served as commissioner of the Canadian Football League from 1968-84, will have served as commissioner of a Canadian pro sports league longer. The Hamilton native joined Petko in shaping the vision for the CEBL and was named Commissioner and CEO of the league in 2017.

“I would like to thank our CEBL owners for their confidence in my ability to continue to lead the league to even greater heights in the years ahead,” said Morreale. “I don’t do this alone and am grateful to the staff in the CEBL Office and at the team level for their dedication and effort in creating a highly successful and sustainable league that people across Canada can be proud to call their own.

“Collectively we’ve been able to accomplish an incredible amount in just four years and against odds that have only made us stronger and more resilient,” Morreale added. “Our strategic plan has us well positioned to elevate our global team-sports brand to prominence on the world’s basketball stage while staying focused on our mandate to fill a key role in the development of Canadian basketball talent.”

Under Morreale’s leadership the CEBL formally launched in May 2018 with six clubs competing in the inaugural 2019 season. Since then, the league has expanded to 10 teams in six provinces, with clubs located in seven of the country’s eight largest metropolitan areas. The addition of more franchises is planned in the years to come. While games have been broadcast or livestreamed globally since 2020, including nationally in Canada through a partnership with CBC, the CEBL began competing internationally in 2021 with teams from FIBA’s Basketball Champions League Americas.

A league created by Canadians for Canadians, the CEBL has the most Canadian content of any pro sports league in Canada with more than 75 percent of its players through four seasons being Canadian. While players join the CEBL with experience in the NBA, NBA G League, top international pro leagues, the Canada National team program, and top NCAA and U Sports programs, nine players have signed contracts with NBA teams following a season in the CEBL.

When COVID-19 shut down the sports world in March 2020, Morreale led the CEBL to become the first pro league in Canada to return to play in July of that year when it created the CEBL Summer Series, a three-week single site competition that brought all teams together for a nationally televised competition to great success thanks to safety protocols put in place by regional health and rigorously enforced by Morreale’s office. He was selected to serve on a government-appointed board that engineered “return to play” processes that guided Canadian sports entities in effectively navigating through the pandemic safely. The CEBL was the first pro league in Canada to return fans to stands in 2021.

Morreale has presided over the implementation of the CEBL’s use of Elam Ending, the first pro league in the world to adopt a target score ending to regular season and playoff games. The league has created its own OTT platform, CEBL+, that enables fans to watch livestreams and archived games and other non-game basketball content year around, as well as the CEBL Mobile app. The CEBL became the first pro sports league in North America to offer players an option to be paid in bitcoin.

The CEBL’s popular Championship Weekend, where the final four playoff teams vie for the league crown, has become a stand-alone property that includes an annual awards gala, outdoor concert, three-on-three tournament and other public events. Cities bid for the right to host the nationally broadcast event each August, and Championship Weekend has already been staged in Saskatoon, Edmonton, Ottawa, and will be hosted by the Vancouver Bandits this summer.

In 2022 more than 4.2 million people followed the CEBL in Canada and internationally through social media, livestreams and broadcasts, team newsletters, and by attending games, purchasing merchandise, or sponsoring a team or the league. In just four years the CEBL has established significant partnerships with many brands, including New Era, Ticketmaster, CBC, Spalding, Foot Locker, Flair Airlines, Red Tag, and Jostens to name a few.

Morreale collaborated with Canada Basketball to establish the first officially licensed partnership between the sport’s national governing body and a professional league. The CEBL has teamed with Canada Basketball in hosting the men’s National team’s World Cup Qualifiers in  Hamilton and Edmonton. During Morreale’s tenure, the CEBL became the first league in the global history of basketball to hire a woman to serve simultaneously as head coach and general manager of a men’s professional team when Chantal Vallée was appointed by the Hamilton Honey Badgers.

Community engagement is a core value for the CEBL. Under Morreale’s leadership teams have volunteered more than 6,000 hours to community services and participated in more than 800 community events since 2019.

A standout receiver for 12 seasons in the Canadian Football League (eight with Hamilton, four with Toronto) and a two-time Grey Cup champion, Morreale launched his business career during his playing years as an owner with the Philthy McNasty’s Restaurant Group. He later served as director of business development with the FCT group of companies, a leading provider of real estate technology in Canada. It was while Morreale was director of business development with AirSprint, an aviation company delivering private jet ownership options, that he met CEBL founder Richard Petko. They began discussions that led to the concept of the CEBL. A popular public speaker, Morreale has worked as a broadcaster with TSN, Sportsnet, and with the Hamilton Tiger-Cats. He served as a player representative with the CFL Players Association, as vice president of sales and marketing for the players association, and in 2012 was elected as the ninth president in the history of the CFLPA.

The 2023 CEBL regular season tips off May 24 and ends July 30, with playoffs to follow. More information about the CEBL is available at CEBL.ca and @cebleague on Instagram, Twitter, TikTok, LinkedIn, Facebook and YouTube.