By Aaron Gogishvili
•
09 Apr, 2024
WINNIPEG – The Canadian Elite Basketball League (CEBL) announced Tuesday that the Winnipeg Sea Bears, in collaboration with the Province of Manitoba and City of Winnipeg, have secured hosting rights for the league’s 2025 Championship Weekend (CW25). For the first time ever, fans at Canada Life Centre in Winnipeg will witness the crowning of a CEBL Champion in August 2025. A celebration of culture, music, community and Canadian basketball, the CEBL’s Championship Weekend has become Canada’s biggest annual basketball event. The weekend includes the top CEBL teams competing to win the league championship trophy, a concert lineup showcasing exciting musical performers, minor basketball events, and an array of activities designed to engage a cross-section of the local community. “The basketball community in Winnipeg has demonstrated overwhelming support for the Sea Bears and the CEBL since day one, and they continue to establish Winnipeg as a basketball hotbed, quickly setting the standard for excellence in our league,” said Mike Morreale, Commissioner and Co-Founder of the CEBL. “The decision to award Winnipeg as host of 2025 Championship Weekend was an easy one and we can’t wait to celebrate the biggest Championship Weekend ever with our fans and partners at Canada Life Centre next summer.“ The Sea Bears set multiple CEBL attendance records at Canada Life Centre in 2023, including the single-game record of 10,580 fans on August 4 against Edmonton in the Play-In round of the playoffs, the single-game regular season record of 8,230 fans on July 29 against Edmonton, and the full-season attendance record of 65,609 over 11 total games. Now the franchise will make history again by hosting Winnipeg’s first-ever professional basketball championship final in 2025.