Sea Bears set to hit hardwood in May
Asper-owned Winnipeg club latest entry in Canadian Elite Basketball League
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Hey there, time traveller!
This article was published 29/11/2022 (484 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.
Winnipeg’s crowded sports entertainment landscape officially got another entry when owner David Asper unveiled the Canadian Elite Basketball League’s Sea Bears logo and plans for the 2023 season Wednesday morning.
The announcement was a long time coming for the local lawyer and businessman, who was one of several prospective Winnipeg ownership groups courted by CEBL commissioner Mike Morreale in the past year.
“This league is about building Canadian basketball by providing a step up so that young people in our country can aspire to play and actually play and have a pathway to play for Team Canada,” said Asper.
“And they can experience and play big league pro ball, both at the games or even when they meet the players. Because this was also an extremely accessible league, much like the model of the CFL.”
CEBL teams play a 20-game regular season and championship tournament between May and mid-August.
The Sea Bears were to have started play at the University of Manitoba’s 3,200-seat Investors Group Athletic Centre but those plans were scrapped in favour of an opportunity to set up shop at Canada Life Centre, downtown home of the NHL’s Jets and AHL’s Manitoba Moose.
“It sort of evolved,” said Asper, explaining the opportunity to go downtown. “As we were doing our due diligence, we got a lot of feedback from a lot of potential stakeholders, leagues, organizations, the basketball community and even beyond the basketball community with pressure to try to have a central location…
“We didn’t think that Canada Life Centre was an option. It’s like life, you never know unless you ask. And so we asked and they agreed to allow us to do it here, which changed the dynamics quite significantly… I think it provides for significantly better fan experience, player experience, but it’s significantly higher risk. It’s more expensive and that requires more investment and we had to evaluate whether to do that or not.”
Morreale praised Asper’s determination to get his preferred venue.
“To be honest this was always the goal but not having anybody outside of the True North family in here, it was an uphill battle,” said Morreale.
“But when you engage people like David and his connection to community, then the doors seem to open a little bit easier. So for us it’s the first NHL arena out of all our teams.
“We’ve played some big arenas, but in terms of the quality of this arena and the fact it’s downtown, the first impression you get from walking into our game next May will be a great one.”
Asper has a three-year lease to play at the NHL facility and he plans to employ a 4,500-seat configuration with the upper deck draped off for the 2023 season.
The arena’s lower bowl seats 7,821 for hockey and additional premium seating will be installed courtside for basketball.
“The beauty of this venue is it can be scaled and it can be scaled properly without losing all the bells and whistles,” said Morreale. “I also believe that it’s scaled to grow. I would say that this may start at 4,500 (capacity), but we could grow to 7,500 over time.”
Asper has also arranged for the team to use the nearby Sport for Life Centre as a practice facility and to house its staff and offices in the same building.
The team is expected to hold its training camp in May. Season-ticket packages and pricing are expected to be available before Christmas.
mike.sawatzky@freepress.mb.ca
Twitter: @sawa14
Mike Sawatzky
Reporter
Mike has been working on the Free Press sports desk since 2003.