CEBL’s Guelph Nighthawks relocating to Calgary for 2023 season

One of the original six Canadian Elite Basketball League franchises is moving to the United States.

On Wednesday, the league announced that the Guelph Nighthawks will be moving to Calgary for the 2023 season.

The team, which will play out of Calgary’s WinSport Event Centre, will be renamed and rebranded.

Commissioner Mike Morreale said In a press release, the league stated that it has been considering a move to Calgary for “a long time”.

Morreale stated, “Relocating a franchise to Canada’s third largest city from our smallest markets will allow the team be financially competitive as our league experiences tremendous growth.” said.

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Morreale also said The team will continue to operate and own the franchise as it did for eight other clubs. Scarborough Shooting Stars is the only private-owned team.

The Nighthawks achieved their best-ever season in 2022. They had a record of.500 in the regular season before falling in the quarterfinals.

Morreale said, “The reality is there is a ceiling market Guelph’s scale that will prevent the franchise in being able compete on a sustainable basis.” said. 

The CEBL hosted its home games in March of the Basketball Champions League Americas, (BCLA), at WinSport in Calgary.

The league pointed out Calgary’s growing basketball scene, noting that the city has seen more than double the number of basketball players in the last seven years. The University of Calgary men’s basketball team has been a top-ranked U Sports team for many years.

The league was expanded to seven teams by the addition in 2020 of the Ottawa BlackJacks. Last season, it grew from 10 to 10, when Scarborough and Newfoundland joined. Guelph was among five Ontario-based teams that included Hamilton and Niagara.

Hamilton won the 2022 title.