Fraser Valley Bandits get new owners and a new name

They’re Vancouver’s team now.

The Lower Mainland’s professional basketball team has new ownership and has tweaked its name.

The Fraser Valley Bandits have been rebranded as the Vancouver Bandits after the team was purchased by local business leaders Kevin Dhaliwal and Bryan Slusarchuk. Dhaliwal is the founder and president of Essence Properties, while Slusarchuk is the co-founder of K92 Mining Inc. and principal of SluzCap.

The updated Bandits logo (Vancouver Bandits)

The Bandits debuted in 2019, playing home games out of the Abbotsford Centre. Last season the team moved to the Langley Events Centre and that’s where they’ll call home going forward.

In a press release, the Bandits said 2022 was their most successful season at the box office, with an increased percentage of fans coming from Burnaby, Coquitlam, Richmond, Surrey, and Vancouver to watch games.

“The CEBL is pleased to welcome Bryan Slusarchuk and Kevin Dhaliwal, two passionate supporters of the Fraser Valley Bandits since their inception, into our league as co-owners of the Bandits,” said CEBL Commissioner and Co-Founder Mike Morreale. “Kevin and Bryan have long been strong supporters of basketball in British Columbia. They share our vision for developing Canadian talent and for being community-based where everyone can engage in basketball as a player, coach, fan, or community or business partner.”

When the CEBL launched in 2018, the Bandits were one of six league-owned franchises. With today’s news, the Bandits became the second CEBL franchise, along with the Scarborough Shooting Stars, to be operated by outside ownership.

The CEBL now consists of 10 franchises, all located in Canada.

“Rebranding the name to Vancouver is in line with the CEBL’s move toward Canada’s largest markets,” Morreale added. “We recently relocated one franchise from Guelph to Calgary, and of course last season added teams in Montreal, Scarborough, and in Atlantic Canada’s second-largest city, St. John’s. We have six teams playing within the six largest metropolitan areas in Canada, and all 10 of our teams are located within the 19 largest urban centres in the country.”

“The CEBL is the most exciting thing to happen in Canadian pro sports in decades and the Bandits are a marquee franchise within the league,” Slusarchuk said. “Kevin and I are excited to build on the strong foundation that has been set by the club and to elevate the Bandits to greater heights by working together with the community to promote these core values that we care about.”

“Bryan and I are thrilled to align to create more opportunities to bring youth and families closer to a sport that has captured the hearts and minds of Canadians,” said Dhaliwal. “The CEBL is uniting local communities through the power of basketball and we are committed to ensuring that families and friends feel connected and energized by the world-class experience of Bandits games.”

Dhaliwal and Slusarchuk now have territorial exclusivity for the rights to own and operate a CEBL franchise in Metro Vancouver and the Fraser Valley Regional District. Vancouver Island and the Okanagan region are “strong prospects” for potential CEBL expansion in the future, according to the Bandits.

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