Calgary welcomes Edmonton basketball team for FIBA tournament

In a venue meant to host hockey, the arena at Winsport will be something entirely new. It will be home to the FIBA Basketball Champions League Tournament in March, but it’s not going to be for a Calgary-based team.

“The Edmonton Stingers our back-to-back champions will be calling Winsport home here in the middle of March as we host the Champions League of Americas against Nicaragua and Puerto Rico, we’re incredibly excited,” said Mike Morreale, CEBL Commissioner.

A team from Edmonton will be making Calgary home as the Canadian Elite Basketball League champs will take up residence here for a few days in 2022. Plus it will be at the home of Hockey Canada as the rink will be converted to hardwood for the international tournament.

Right now, the ten-team league does not have a team based in Calgary, but a venue wasn’t available in Edmonton meaning the move down the QE2. It is also a big step to help with the recovery of Calgary’s tourism industry from the pandemic.

“By injecting an estimated $2.4 million dollars into our visitor economy. We need that right now in Calgary and we’re so excited to roll out the red carpet and provide that ultimate host service that Calgary is so famous for,” said Shelley Zucht-Shorter, VP, In-Destination & Event Services.

Tuesday’s announcement also brought questions if this meant Calgary was on the radar for an expansion franchise using this as an audition.

“We’ve wanted to come to this market, I haven’t been shy about that, we wanted to test this venue, I haven’t been shy about that. And now this is the right time. I’ve had interest from interested parties in the city, it all comes down a lot to venue and a proper one. It’s a bit of a challenge, but if you know anything about us, we like challenges,” added Zucht-Shorter.

This will be the first time Canada will host games from the BCLA tournament and you can pick up tickets now for games at the Markin MacPhail Centre from Mar.14-16.