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28-480: The league currently consists of 10 teams from six provinces, with four from Ontario, two from Alberta, and one each from British Columbia, Manitoba, Saskatchewan, and Quebec, the largest number of teams of any professional sports league operating entirely in Canada. CEBL teams play 20 regular-season games from May to August. The season culminates in the six-team playoffs that include a final four Championship Weekend where

56-420: A playoff tournament . Usually the final four compete in the two games of a single-elimination tournament 's semi-final (penultimate) round. Of these teams, the two who win in the semi-final round play another single-elimination game whose winner is the tournament champion. In some tournaments, the two teams that lose in the semi-final round compete for third place in a consolation game . The term "final four"

84-462: A "party wrapped around a basketball game" with "a ton of value for the fans" in order to attract spectators, including outdoor pre-game events, in-arena entertainment, autograph sessions, and other features. The CEBL initially operated as a single entity, with all teams owned by the league under individual general managers. The league has gradually moved teams towards local ownership, with six teams in 2023 having independent ownership. In December 2018,

112-477: A common venue for the Final Four. A team must advance through multiple rounds of play—typically winning four consecutive games in a field of 64 (or 68) teams—to qualify for the Final Four. These four teams are matched against each other on the last weekend of the tournament. The Final Four of the men's Division I tournament is traditionally held on a Saturday, while the Final Four of the women's Division I tournament

140-678: Is most often used in the United States and in sports heavily influenced by that country; elsewhere, only the term "semi-finals" is in common use. Previously, it was believed that the phrase "final four" first appeared in print in a 1975 article for the Official Collegiate Basketball Guide , whose author Ed Chay was a sportswriter for the Cleveland Plain Dealer . Chay stated that the Marquette basketball team "was one of

168-440: Is turned off and the target score is set at 9 more than the current leading score. For example, if the score was 110-105, then the target score is 119 and the first team to reach that wins. As of December 2019, league executives include: The CEBL's main focus will be on showcasing and developing Canadian talent in basketball: at least 70% of each team's roster must consist of Canadian players. As it will be played over

196-567: Is usually played on a Friday. The NCAA also uses "Final Four" for other sports besides basketball, such as men's volleyball and women's volleyball championships. For ice hockey tournaments, the NCAA uses a variation of the term—" Frozen Four ". Because the term is now a registered trademark of the NCAA in the United States, no other organizations in that country can use the phrase to refer to their tournaments. Organizations in other countries may officially do so. Many basketball organizations outside

224-772: The Calgary Surge . In August 2023, the CEBL Clash was played at the Videotron Centre in Quebec City . It was an all-star game between top players from the Eastern and Western Conferences. The event was done in partnership with Gestev, a subsidiary of Quebecor Sports and Entertainment Group. Upon announcing the CEBL Clash, it was confirmed that Gestev is seriously considering support for an expansion team in Quebec City for 2024 based on

252-687: The Canadian Elite Basketball League since 2023. They relocated from Guelph, where they were known as the Guelph Nighthawks . They were renamed and rebranded as the Calgary Surge. The team plays at home at WinSport Event Centre . On August 17, 2022, it was announced that the Guelph Nighthawks would be relocated to Calgary. The franchise plays home games at Winsport Event Centre . On October 19, 2022, they were officially named

280-620: The National Hockey League . "Final Four" was used to refer to the crew of STS-135 , the final Space Shuttle mission. The term has also been used in some television shows to denote the last remaining four contestants, such as the Philippine TV series StarStruck and the reality show Survivor . Calgary Surge The Calgary Surge is a Canadian professional basketball team based in Calgary , Alberta, Canada, that competes in

308-824: The 2021 season. Later in 2021, the Scarborough Shooting Stars , the Montreal Alliance , and the Newfoundland Growlers were all announced as expansion teams for the 2022 season. In November 2022, the league announced that the Winnipeg Sea Bears would join the CEBL in the 2023 season, while the Newfoundland Growlers would be suspending operations. In August 2022, the league announced that the Guelph Nighthawks would be relocating to Calgary, Alberta as

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336-475: The CEBL announced that CBC Sports would stream all remaining games of the inaugural season on its digital platforms. It subsequently announced in November 2019 that CBC Sports had agreed to a three-year deal, which will also see eight games (seven regular-season games and the championship game) per-season aired on CBC Television . In 2021 the league launched its CEBL+ streaming service. All games are streamed through

364-418: The CEBL reached a five-year deal with New Era to be the official apparel provider of the league. The CEBL also reached an official agreement with Canada Basketball for it to be recognized as its first division professional league (in a league system akin to European competition); this endorsement also allows the CEBL access to resources from the governing body. Canada Basketball CEO Glen Grunwald stated that

392-702: The Calgary Surge. The Surge played their first game on 27, May 2023 against the Edmonton Stingers , a 74-70 victory. For the 2023 CEBL Season the Surge finished with a 12-8 record and first in the Western Conference. In the playoffs the Surge defeated the Edmonton Stingers and the Vancouver Bandits to earn a berth in the championship final against the Scarborough Shooting Stars . The Surge would fall to

420-496: The NCAA Final Four by winning the regional here." The National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) later trademarked the term. The oldest and most common use of the term is in reference to the final four teams in the annual NCAA basketball tournaments: each Final Four team is the champion from one of four regions of the tournament. These regional champions then travel from the four separate sites of their regional rounds to

448-699: The NCAA's registration of "Final Four" as a trademark, the term is still widely used by sportswriters, fans etc. to denote participants in semifinal rounds of professional postseason playoffs, such as those of the League Championship Series in Major League Baseball , the conference championship games in the National Football League , and the conference championship series in both the National Basketball Association and

476-878: The U.S. use the term for the semifinal and final rounds of their tournaments such as the FIBA Americas League ( FIBA Americas League Final 4 ), the EuroLeague ( EuroLeague Final Four ), the Champions League ( Champions League Final Four ), the Israeli Premier League , the Philippine NCAA , and the University Athletic Association of the Philippines . The CEV Champions League in volleyball also uses "Final Four" for its final rounds. Despite

504-497: The final four" during the previous season's tournament . The myth that "final four" was first used in 1975 is refuted by the fact that the term "final four" was in widespread use in descriptions of the NCAA basketball tournament by the 1960s. For example, Bill Mayer of the Kansas-based Lawrence Daily Journal World wrote in 1966, "What a great year it could be if   ... KU   ... could advance to

532-440: The first season, games were primarily streamed on an in-house platform known as CEBL.tv; the league stated that it would provide the necessary means for each team to produce "a really good official and professional looking live stream that we can share without any kind of limitations to who can see it." The league considered the possibility of selling television rights to its championship to a traditional broadcaster. On June 12, 2019,

560-628: The league and attracting sponsorship. However, after the NBL declined, Petko and Morreale decided to organize their own league, with Morreale as CEO. The six charter teams were officially unveiled in May 2018, with the River Lions joining five newly created franchises in Edmonton, AB, Guelph, ON, Hamilton, ON, Saskatoon, SK, and Abbotsford, BC (moved to Langley in 2021). Morreale stated that the CEBL would emphasize offering

588-461: The league would provide an "exciting new product and a further development opportunity for Canadian players, coaches, referees, administrators and management types." Due to this agreement, the league plays under the standard FIBA rules. In January 2019, the CEBL announced a three-year agreement with Spalding to be the official ball of the league. Due to the COVID-19 pandemic , the 2020 CEBL season

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616-542: The league's champion is crowned. The CEBL was first announced in October 2017. Niagara River Lions owner Richard Petko had been dissatisfied with the operations of the National Basketball League of Canada , which he deemed to be a "shoestring business" with no vision. He attempted to persuade the league to hire Mike Morreale , a former Canadian Football League player who, Petko felt, could do better at marketing

644-485: The platform, with games in Canada streamed for free. For the 2020 season, the CEBL also began streaming games on Twitch . On August 7, the CEBL and Mediapro announced new rights deals in the Asia-Pacific and Oceania regions, such as Astro (Malaysia), Fox Sports Australia , SingTel , Sportscast (Taiwan), and TapGo (Philippines). A feature length documentary about the 2020 "Summer Series", produced by Ward 1 Studios,

672-473: The spring and summer months, the CEBL also sought to attract players wanting to continue developing their game over the traditional offseason period. Players were expected to be drawn from collegiate alumni (including U Sports and U.S. NCAA basketball), players with experience in other international leagues, as well as members of the Canadian national team . The salary cap is $ 8,000 per team per game. During

700-458: The success of the event. The CEBL Clash attracted over 7,000 spectators. Another team in the West will join along with the unnamed Quebec City team to keep the conferences balanced. CEBL games are five-on-five in four quarters of ten minutes each. Beginning in 2020, the league implemented an Elam Ending system: after the first time stoppage in the last four minutes of the final quarter, the game clock

728-646: The winner. In the 2021–22 season , the Edmonton Stingers represented Canada in the Basketball Champions League Americas (BCLA) . In November 2019, the Ottawa Blackjacks were announced as the league's first expansion team, and seventh overall, beginning in the 2020 season. In February 2021, Morreale announced that an expansion team in Montreal would be added no earlier than the 2022 season; due to COVID-19, no new expansion teams were added for

756-522: Was broadcast May 29, 2021 on CBC. Ahead of the 2023 season, the CEBL announced a broadcast rights agreement with Bell Media . Games will air on TSN in English and RDS in French, with a "game of the week" package on TSN throughout the season, RDS particularly carrying Montreal Alliance games, and all games streaming on TSN+ . Final four In sports, the final four is the last four teams remaining in

784-597: Was postponed, and conducted as a shortened tournament in a bio-secure bubble behind closed doors , branded as the CEBL Summer Series . Beginning in the 2020 season, the CEBL adopted the Elam Ending —as recently popularized by The Basketball Tournament and the NBA All-Star Game —for all games, under which the game clock is turned off near the end of the fourth quarter, and teams play to a target score to determine

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