The Canadian Elite Basketball League has made it official, announcing the Guelph Nighthawks are relocating to Calgary.
The team will get a new name when it begins playing there next season.
“Our league has experienced growth that has already exceeded the expectations we had when we launched in 2018. When we launched the CEBL it made sense for Guelph to be among our founding franchises,” said CEBL commissioner Mike Morreale in a press release.
“However, as the CEBL grows a team playing in Canada’s 46th largest market simply won’t be able to remain competitive financially with the other teams in the league."
The Nighthawks posted an overall record of 25-37 (.403) in four seasons.
“Our organization is very proud of all we accomplished in delivering world class basketball to our fans during our four seasons in Guelph,” said team president Cameron Kusch in the same release.
Despite a quality product on the court and professional entertainment experience provided on game nights overall, the team struggled to consistently attract fans.
The team officially averaged 1,474 fans a game this past season, but there were often much fewer than that in the seats. Their highest attendance came in their first home game, a 3,000-mark that was aided by rapper J. Cole being a member of the visiting team.
The CEBL's first season was 2019, launching with six teams in four provinces. It currently has 10 teams in six provinces.
