The Canadian Elite Basketball League (CEBL) announced Tuesday the schedule ahead of the league’s sixth season, which begins May 21 when the Edmonton Stingers visit provincial rivals Calgary Surge at the Scotiabank Saddledome. The Honey Badgers host the Niagara River Lions three days later on May 24 at the CAA Centre to open the club’s second season in Brampton. 

“The Honey Badgers have been enjoying its community development work throughout the offseason,” said Michael Cvitkovic, Brampton Honey Badgers. “Brampton is a proud basketball city and we cannot wait for the upcoming CEBL season to represent our fans once again.”

The upcoming Honey Badgers campaign will include another 20-game schedule, 100 total games league-wide, featuring at least one meeting with all of the league’s nine other franchises. All teams will make an appearance at the CAA Centre this summer, excluding the Edmonton Stingers, while the Ottawa BlackJacks and the defending CEBL Champion Scarborough Shooting Stars will travel to Brampton twice. 

Following a CEBL quarter-final exit in the club’s inaugural season at the CAA Centre, Brampton will look the improve on their 8-12 record. Including the four previous seasons in Hamilton prior to relocating, the team has reached the CEBL Playoffs in each season, including two Championship Weekend appearances and one CEBL Championship. The Honey Badgers defeated the current defending champion Scarborough Shooting Stars 90-88 in the 2022 CEBL Championship in Ottawa, to earn their first championship banner that is raised high in rafters at the CAA Centre. The Honey Badgers and Shooting Stars will resume the battle of the GTA with a Sunday-afternoon showdown on home court June 9, followed by three additional meetings between the cross-town rivals. 

The Eastern and Western Conferences will return for a second season since its introduction ahead of the 2023 season, and features the same teams; Calgary Surge, Edmonton Stingers, Saskatchewan Rattlers, Vancouver Bandits, and Winnipeg Sea Bears in the West, and Montréal Alliance, Niagara River Lions, Ottawa BlackJacks, Scarborough Shooting Stars, and Brampton Honey Badgers in the East. 

The 2024 CEBL Championship will run through the Verdun Auditorium, with Championship Weekend being hosted by the Montreal Alliance. Last season, the Scarborough Shooting Stars defeated the Calgary Surge at the Langley Events Centre to raise the trophy for the first time in franchise history.

Returning for the CEBL’s sixth season is the postseason format, including play-in games between the third and fourth-ranked teams in each conference. Winners will advance to the quarterfinals and play the second-best team of their respective conferences. The fifth-ranked team in each conference will be eliminated unless Montreal places fifth in the east, in which case the fourth-ranked east team will get eliminated. Quarterfinal winners in each conference will play their respective conference teams already seeded in the semifinals. The full postseason schedule will be announced at a later date.

The CEBL’s broadcast schedule will be announced at a later date, but all games including playoffs will be livestreamed and archived on the CEBL’s OTT platform, CEBL+, and on CEBL Mobile, the official app of the CEBL (available on Android and iOS devices).

Highlights of Brampton’s 20-game regular-season schedule include:

• Honey Badgers host Niagara River Lions in home opener on May 24.
• Half of Brampton’s home games will occur in the first three weeks of the season.
• Winnipeg Sea Bears visit the CAA Centre for the Honey Badgers 2nd Annual School Day game on June 5, hosting thousands of students from across the region for an 11am tipoff.
• Honey Badgers to play three home games over a six-day span in early June.
• Longest road trip of the season is a two-game western visit to Saskatchewan, and Calgary in mid-June.
• Brampton’s home slate of games features two Fridays, three Sundays, four Wednesdays and a Thursday. All three Sunday home games against eastern conference opponents, Ottawa once and Scarborough twice. 
• Honey Badgers host the Vancouver Bandits on July 25 in the final home game of the regular season.
• Regular season-finale on the road in Ottawa on July 29 against the BlackJacks. 

Ways to be involved with the Honey Badgers are still available:

• Season tickets
• Voucher packages
• Group outings and game experiences
• Community donations
• Suite nights
• Corporate tickets and marketing opportunities

Contact the Honey Badgers team directly by visiting honeybadgers.ca/contact-us or by telephone at (905) 522-BALL. Individual game tickets are expected to go on sale in the spring.

More information about the Brampton Honey Badgers can be found at honeybadgers.ca and @HoneyBadgersCan on Instagram, Twitter, TikTok, and Facebook. 

About the Brampton Honey Badgers

One of the original franchises of the Canadian Elite Basketball League (CEBL), the 2022 CEBL Champion Brampton Honey Badgers proudly call the CAA Centre home. The Brampton front office and basketball operations department bring NBA, NBA G League, national team, NCAA and major international pro league experience to the franchise. With a vision of promoting Brampton grassroots basketball and local businesses through community and corporate engagement, the Honey Badgers will leverage the explosion of basketball as a vehicle for innovation and change. For more information visit www.honeybadgers.ca.

About the Canadian Elite Basketball League (CEBL) 

A league created by Canadians for Canadians with a mission to develop Canadian players, coaches, sports executives, and referees, the CEBL boasts the highest percentage of Canadian players of any pro league in the country with 73% of its 2023 rosters being Canadian. Players bring experience from the NBA, NBA G League, top international pro leagues, the Canadian National team program, and top NCAA programs as well as U SPORTS. Fourteen players have signed NBA contracts following a CEBL season, and numerous CEBL players attend NBA G League training camps every year. The CEBL season runs from May through August. More information about the CEBL is available at CEBL.ca and @cebleague on Instagram, Twitter, TikTok, LinkedIn, Facebook & YouTube.

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Media Contact:
Kyle Warrener - Sr. Coordinator, Marketing, Communications, and Events

Brampton Honey Badgers

kwarrener@honeybadgers.ca