Calgary’s new pro basketball team unveils name and logo
The newest Canadian Elite Basketball League (CEBL) team will be surging into Calgary.
The franchise, which announced its relocation to the city in August, will officially be known as the Calgary Surge. The nickname was unveiled at a press conference at WinSport’s Canada Olympic Park (COP) in Calgary on Wednesday.
Fans were able to submit team name ideas and generated thousands of responses, according to the league. The name was unveiled by five-time Canadian Screen Award winner and Calgarian Andrew Phung.
CEBL
“I couldn’t be any more excited in welcoming Usman Tahir Jutt, Jason Ribeiro, and the great sports fans of Calgary to the Canadian Elite Basketball League,” Mike Morreale, commissioner and co-founder of the CEBL, said in a release.
“Calgary has been at the forefront of our expansion plans, and we took our time in identifying an ownership group that is well-regarded in the market, understands the many attributes that make our league unique among Canadian pro sports leagues, and can bring ideas and assets to the league that will benefit every franchise.”
Jutt and Ribeiro were introduced as the pair bringing the team to the city.
“I love Calgary and have chosen to build my life and family here. I couldn’t pass up the opportunity to be a part of the Calgary Surge and combine my passions for sport and community and youth development,” Jutt said. “Basketball is one of Canada’s fastest-growing sports, and I want to make Calgary a basketball town. We can do that with the Surge.”
Hello @CEBLeague 👋 Welcome to the Surge.
Link below to reserve tickets and buy merch.
🔗 https://t.co/D6lRFUhzdr#LetsBall pic.twitter.com/NR1zqbtU2D
— CEBL Calgary (@CalgarySurge) October 19, 2022
The team was previously known as the Guelph Nighthawks, one of the six founding members of the CEBL.
Calgary is Canada’s third-largest city and fifth-largest media market, and minor basketball enrolment in Calgary has more than doubled in the past seven years, according to the CEBL.
The Surge will play out of WinSport. WinSport has previously held basketball events at Markin MacPhail Centre, including the Edmonton Stingers of the CEBL.
The CEBL, which launched in 2018, is a 10-team summer league with clubs spanning six provinces and teams in Langley, Edmonton, Saskatoon, Hamilton, Ottawa, St. Catharines, Guelph, Scarborough, and St. John’s.
It is the largest pro sports league in Canada, according to its website. It also has the highest percentage of Canadian players of any professional league in the country, with Canadians composing 71% of rosters. Those rosters contain players with experience in the NBA, NBA G League, top international leagues, the Canadian National team program, NCAA, and U SPORTS.
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