The Canadian Elite Basketball League (CEBL) announced Tuesday its complete 2020 season schedule, which includes 70 regular season and five playoff games culminating with the CEBL Championship Weekend at Edmonton’s Expo Centre from August 14-16, 2020. The second CEBL season tips off May 7, 2020 when the league’s new expansion team, the Ottawa BlackJacks, travels to meet the Niagara River Lions.

Highlights of the 2020 CEBL schedule include:

· With the addition of Ottawa, the regular season calendar will increase by 10 games (70 in total), in addition to a pair of new CEBL Championship Weekend play-in games.

o The team with the best regular season record will join host Edmonton with automatic berths into the four-team Championship Weekend showcase. The next four teams in the standings will play quarterfinal games August 9 to determine which two will advance to Edmonton.

· Each CEBL team will play 20 regular season games, (10 home and 10 away) during a 14-week calendar.

· With seven teams the CEBL schedule will be imbalanced. Edmonton, Fraser Valley and Saskatchewan will play each other five times, and the remaining four clubs three or two times. Guelph, Hamilton, Niagara and Ottawa will play each other four or five times in addition to the games against western opponents.

· Seven regular season contests and the championship game will be broadcast live on CBC. All regular season CBC telecasts are scheduled to tip off Saturdays afternoons beginning May 30 at FirstOntario Centre when Ottawa plays Hamilton. ( dates and times subject to change ).

· A total of five School Day matinee games will welcome thousands of students to CEBL games in Hamilton, Guelph, Edmonton, Niagara, and Fraser Valley.

· Five tripleheaders will be showcased on CEBL.tv and CBC Sports’ digital platforms throughout the season: May 14, June 27, July 25, and two in the same week, July 30 and August 1. There will also be 15 doubleheaders during the CEBL campaign.

· Thursday is the most popular night of the week with 25 CEBL games taking place, followed by Saturdays with 20 contests.

· The reigning CEBL champion Saskatchewan Rattlers, the Guelph Nighthawks and Hamilton Honey Badgers enjoy the longest homestands of the season, hosting four consecutive games each.

· The Fraser Valley Bandits will embark on the longest stretch of road games of any team with five games away from Abbotsford, BC.

· May 7: The 2020 campaign begins by introducing the first expansion franchise, the Ottawa BlackJacks, as they travel to St. Catharines, Ontario to face the Niagara River Lions.

· May 8: As part of the first CEBL doubleheader of the season, the defending champion Saskatchewan Rattlers will travel to Fraser Valley, as both teams welcome new head coaches.

· May 14: The first of five tripleheaders is highlighted by the inaugural home game for the expansion Ottawa BlackJacks as they play host to Hamilton. Later that night, the Saskatchewan Rattlers will raise the inaugural CEBL championship banner at SaskTel Centre during a pregame ceremony, before taking on the Fraser Valley Bandits.

· May 16: A rematch of the 2019 CEBL championship game takes place in Hamilton as the Honey Badgers host the Saskatchewan Rattlers. The Rattlers claimed the inaugural season title with a 94-83 victory over the Honey Badgers on August 25, 2019.

· Seven games will be played during the third week of May, highlighted by the two rematches from last season’s CEBL Championship Weekend semifinal contests. Niagara travels to Hamilton on May 23 and Saskatchewan hosts Edmonton the following night.

· All four Saturdays in June will be televised nationally by CBC starting at 4 p.m. Eastern time.

· June and July are the busiest months in the CEBL with 22 games each.

· August 6: The second CEBL regular season concludes with a doubleheader (Edmonton at Niagara, Guelph at Fraser Valley).

· August 9: Two CEBL Championship Weekend play-in games will take place.

· August 14-16: Championship Weekend at Expo Centre in Edmonton.

Basketball fans throughout the country can get a jump start on the action by purchasing season tickets in any of the seven CEBL markets now. For more information or to secure season tickets for your favourite CEBL team, visit www.cebl.ca/tickets. Flex and Voucher Packs, Group Tickets and Single-Game Tickets will go on sale in early 2020.

The CEBL 2020 season schedule was announced at The Barbara Frum Atrium within the Canadian Broadcasting Centre in downtown Toronto, as part of a larger event in which the CEBL named CBC Sports its premier media partner.

CBC Sports will offer live streams of all 70 regular season CEBL games and its five playoff contests on the free CBC Gem streaming service, cbcsports.ca and the CBC Sports app for iOS and Android devices. CBC will also provide broadcast coverage of seven regular season games and the CEBL Championship Weekend.

All games will also be available on CEBL.TV and Island Sports Network. Local and radio broadcast schedules will be announced closer to the start of the season.

Quotes

“The 2020 CEBL season is full of intriguing matchups, an interactive broadcast platform and 12 more games than last season. As we welcome the Ottawa BlackJacks to the league, this upcoming season is poised to generate a new level of excitement among Canadian basketball fans and communities across the country.”

- Mike Morreale, CEO and Commissioner, Canadian Elite Basketball League

“The Edmonton Stingers, in collaboration with the City of Edmonton, the Province of Alberta, and Alberta Basketball are proud to welcome the Canadian basketball community to our city for the 2020 CEBL Championship Weekend. Having recently hosted the FIBA Women's Olympic Pre-Qualifying Americas Tournament, Edmonton is ready for an even bigger basketball party in August.”

- Brett Fraser, President, Edmonton Stingers, and Director, CEBL Championship Weekend

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Michael Cvitkovic

[email protected]

647-965-3499

About Canadian Elite Basketball League

The Canadian Elite Basketball League (CEBL) is a new basketball experience that features world class professional basketball in a fan-friendly entertainment environment across seven cities in Canada. The 2019 inaugural season saw more than 100 Canadian and international players take to the court, culminating with the Saskatchewan Rattlers earning the first CEBL championship trophy. CEBL players come from NBA G-League clubs, top NCAA programs, the Canadian national program, U SPORTS and other Division 1 FIBA leagues. As the First Division Professional League partner of Canada Basketball, the CEBL is set to start its second season in May 2020. All games are live streamed on the CBC Gem app, CEBL.TV and the Island Sports Network.

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