Guelph Nighthawks flying out of Royal City, officially moving to Calgary
After days of fans speculation the Guelph Nighthawks franchise would be leaving the Royal City, the Canadian Elite Basketball League (CEBL) made it official -- the Nighthawks will be flying to a new location.
The current season will be the last for the Guelph Nighthawks, as the CEBL announced Wednesday the team will be renamed, rebranded and moved to Calgary.
Speculation of the team’s relocation swirled on social media after a tweet from The Rod Pederson Show on Aug. 15 said insider sources confirmed the Guelph Nighthawks would be playing out of the Win Sports Canada Arena in Calgary next season.
A public unveiling of the new nickname, logo and colours for the team will be held at a later date.
“Calgary has been one of our target markets for a long time and relocating a franchise from our smallest market to Canada’s third-largest city will allow the team to remain financially competitive as our league continues to experience tremendous growth,” said Mike Morreale, commissioner and co-founder of the CEBL, in a media release. “Several potential ownership groups have expressed an interest in bringing a team to Calgary, but none has been able to meet our criteria for ownership. The league will continue to own and operate this franchise as we do nine of our 10 teams until a qualified individual or group emerges.”
The Nighthawks finished the 2022 season near the bottom of the pack, sitting in seventh place in the standings out of 10 teams.
The team recorded 10 wins and 10 losses.
Earlier this year, the Nighthawks announced the acquisition of a former Toronto Raptor Lucas ‘Bebê’ Nogueira as an international designated player.
“The City of Guelph, Mayor Cam Guthrie, Sleeman Centre staff, and the community, in general, have been strong supporters of the Nighthawks and we are grateful for all they’ve done to make the franchise a success in that market under the outstanding leadership of team president Cam Kusch and his staff,” Morreale said in the release. “But the reality is that there is a ceiling in a market of Guelph’s size that will prevent the franchise from being able to compete on a sustained basis. When we launched the CEBL in 2018, it made sense for Guelph to be among our founding franchises. However, we are moving into the country’s largest markets at a pace much faster than we originally anticipated, and the economic realities of pro sports forces us to have to make this difficult decision.”
According to the CEBL, the Nighthawks averaged over 1,200 fans per game.
The Nighthawks season opener for the 2022 season against the Scarborough Shooting Stars saw 2,992 fans in attendance.
The Nighthawk’s final game was against the Niagara River Lions on Aug. 6 with 1,408 people in attendance.
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
Cuban government apologizes to Montreal-area family after delivering wrong body
Cuba's foreign affairs minister has apologized to a Montreal-area family after they were sent the wrong body following the death of a loved one.
What is changing about Canada's capital gains tax and how does it impact me?
The federal government's proposed change to capital gains taxation is expected to increase taxes on investments and mainly affect wealthy Canadians and businesses. Here's what you need to know about the move.
Quebec nurse had to clean up after husband's death in Montreal hospital
On a night she should have been mourning, a nurse from Quebec's Laurentians region says she was forced to clean up her husband after he died at a hospital in Montreal.
'Anything to win': Trudeau says as Poilievre defends meeting protesters
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau is accusing Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre of welcoming 'the support of conspiracy theorists and extremists,' after the Conservative leader was photographed meeting with protesters, which his office has defended.
Fair in Ontario, flurries in Labrador: Weather systems make for an erratic spring
"It's a bit of a complicated pattern; we've got a lot going on," said Jennifer Smith of the Meteorological Service of Canada in an interview with CTVNews.ca on Wednesday. "[As is] typical with weather, all of these things are related."
Police tangle with students in Texas and California as wave of campus protest against Gaza war grows
Police tangled with student demonstrators in Texas and California while new encampments sprouted Wednesday at Harvard and other colleges as school leaders sought ways to defuse a growing wave of pro-Palestinian protests.
Bank of Canada officials split on when to start cutting interest rates
Members of the Bank of Canada's governing council were split on how long the central bank should wait before it starts cutting interest rates when they met earlier this month.
Northern Ont. lawyer who abandoned clients in child protection cases disbarred
A North Bay, Ont., lawyer who abandoned 15 clients – many of them child protection cases – has lost his licence to practise law.
'My stomach dropped': Winnipeg man speaks out after being criminally harassed following single online date
A Winnipeg man said a single date gone wrong led to years of criminal harassment, false arrests, stress and depression.