Defending champs celebrating 10th anniversary in 2025
The defending Canadian Elite Basketball League champion Niagara River Lions will open the 2025 season at home May 16 against the Calgary Surge.
River Lions president Michelle Biskup agrees the term ‘defending champion’ has a nice ring to it as the organization enters its 10th anniversary season.
“Definitely,” she said. “Through the off-season, we have been trying to use the champions title as much as we can to our advantage. It is only a short time that we get to celebrate it and hopefully we can do it two years in a row. We’ve been getting the trophy out there, talking with sponsors about it and with fans as we call them to buy tickets. We’re really excited to continue to celebrate it through the season until the next championship weekend.”
There will be a banner-raising ceremony and the presentation of championship rings to the players and that will be done a little later in the season to make sure as many returning players as possible are available.
“With the earlier start to the season, some might not be back for the home opener and it will be probably sometime in June. I am relying on Victor (head coach/GM Raso) to let me know when he expects players to be back,” she said.
The team will be celebrating its 10th anniversary in 2025 in style.
Full details will be announced at a later date but some of the initiatives are: moving the court to the centre of the arena to provide a better experience for fans; a special 10th anniversary logo that will be featured on merchandise; a rebranding of the team’s logo; and, a legacy night where the team recognizes and celebrates former players, staffers, volunteers and interns.
The River Lions were dynamite at home this past season posting a perfect 11-0 record to set a CEBL record.
“We pride ourselves that every paying fan last year got a winning game,” Biskup said. “People love the atmosphere at the Meridian Centre and moving the court to the centre of the arena will allow for more fans and we are going to have a new court-side activation space because there is more room. It will shake things up a bit. We have seen it this way for nine seasons and it will be a big change but it’s to improve our fan experience. We are constantly changing things to keep it exciting.”
Fans will have more to love in 2025 thanks to the league’s decision earlier this year to increase the schedule to 24 games from 22, which increase the overall number of regular season games to 120 from 100. The increased schedule will see the season start one week earlier in May and end two weeks later August.
Niagara’s 12-game home schedule will include seven Friday night games, two Thursday night games, one Wednesday night game, two Sunday afternoon games and the School Day Game on Friday, June 20 at 11 a.m.
The River Lions have continued to gain more and more of a foothold in the Niagara sports community as evidenced by the number of people who can be seen wearing River Lions gear in public and the amount of people in attendance at the games. This past season, attendance climbed to a record of just less than 3,000 per game compared to a previous high of 2,500 in 2023.
“It is definitely growing. We tell people that once you come once to a game, you want to come again,” she said. “People don’t really know what to expect when they come to our games. They think it is just a basketball game but as you know it is so much more than that. The entertainment value is there for all ages. With having the kids area on the concourse and giveaways, there is something for everyone and people feel it is a really good value for their money. As word gets around, more and more people want to come to games and experience it.”
The River Lions plan to continue to work hard to further increase their fan base.
“In the off-season, we do some youth basketball initiatives and we are trying to increase that over the next little bit. We are also making some changes in our front office and we are bring in more staff which helps sales and also as we grow as an organization it is imperative we have people to support that growth.”
The growth of the league as a whole has also boosted attendance.
“How much the league is growing can only support us as a team as well,” Biskup said. “We’re excited to celebrate our championship and 10th season and keep growing.”
Niagara River Lions’ season tickets and voucher packs are on sale now. Group tickets and single game tickets will be available in the coming months. Ticket information can be found at www.riverlions.ca/tickets or by calling 289-273-5905.
The playoffs will open Aug. 14 with the conference play-in game followed by the conference semifinals Aug. 16. Championship weekend is scheduled for Aug. 22-24 in Winnipeg with the top team in the Eastern Conference during the regular season getting a bye to championship weekend.
The games that will be broadcast nationally on TSN will be announced at a later date and all games, including playoffs, will be streamed live on the CEBL’s OTT platform, CEBL+ Powered by BetVictor, on CEBL Mobile, the official app of the CEBL (available on Android and iOS devices), and on TSN+.
