Following the success of the 2025 Surge2Stampede and Surge2Red Deer games, the Calgary Surge have announced a game in Lethbridge and a return to Red Deer and the Calgary Stampede.
The neutral-site games in Red Deer and Lethbridge will be played against the Edmonton Stingers on May 31 and the Montreal Alliance on June 20. The Surge’s fourth game at the Saddledome will be played against the Vancouver Bandits on July 9.
Jason Ribeiro, Co-Chairman of the Calgary Surge, said the partnerships are the result of continued community investment and fan interest.
“Lethbridge, it’ll be our first time here, but the connections to Lethbridge have grown deeper over our first three seasons. We’ve done a camp in Lethbridge, we’re very proud to have one of our assistant coaches, Kenny Otieno, who’s the head coach of the Lethbridge Pronghorns and that was capped off by signing a University of Lethbridge Pronghorn men’s basketball player Josh Francis this year,” Riberio told LWC.
“In Red Deer, last year was the fourth highest grossing game and fourth highest attended game in our three seasons. Red Deer showed up last time and with the amount of demand that we had, and a lot of people who had FOMO from missing that first game, I think we’re really excited to be back there.”
Andrew Boitchenko, Minister of Tourism and Sport, said that sport is key to building healthy, vibrant communities and is a driver of tourism, the upcoming marquee games are no different.
“I’d like to offer a warm Alberta welcome to all CEBL teams from across the country, as they visit the host cities of Lethbridge, Red Deer, and Calgary, and best of luck to our Calgary Surge and Edmonton Stingers,” he said in a statement.
Ribeiro said that last year’s Surge2Stampede game, a 107-91 Surge win against Montreal, was one of the team’s greatest accomplishments to date. He expects this year to be no different.
“The Calgary Stampede have been amazing partners to us and they wanted us to come back and we’ve been able to work it out with the other headlining acts of A$AP Rocky and Alanis Morissette to where we’re smack dab in the middle,” he said.
“We’re really excited to not only bring what was amazing about that first stampede game, but some new twists and turns and elements that I think will excite fans who are attending for the first time.”
Previous Saddledome-hosted Surge games have featured live performances, jersey changes and other half-time shenanigans. When asked, Ribeiro said he never shows his hand early, but can promise Surge faithful that they won’t leave Stampede grounds disappointed.
Front office ramping up ahead of season
Riberio, who is now the part-owner of two CEBL franchises after his group’s purchase of the Saskatoon Mamba, said that at this time of year, all things Canadian basketball are finally starting to feel real again.
“We’re thrilled and our fans are incredibly excited. We’ve expanded our season ticket base and the graph continues to go up. We’ve done the right things, certainly from a basketball level, to continue and maintain the competitiveness,” he said.
“This is a Canadian league with the most domestic Canadian talent of any pro sports league in the country and it just keeps getting bigger and bigger. With that, our expectations grow bigger and bigger, not only of us, but every element of the live performance that we put on at these games.”
Frankly, Ribeiro said, his staff is busier during the offseason then they are during the regular season.
“I can’t say enough good things about the team that we’ve assembled here as the 2026 Franchise of the Year. On the basketball side, we’re confident and guys are going to be arriving soon and they’ll start to gel,” he said.
“The goal is to peak at the right time, maintain the competitive spirit we have and again, three straight years, three straight championship weekends, two Western Conference Championships. We’ve got something that works. We just need to build upon it and continue plugging away.”
One big change heading into this CEBL season is a brand new playoff format. The league is ditching its Championship Weekend in favour of typical seeding based home court advantage.
Ribeiro said that he’s always in favour of new ideas and thoughtful change.
“One of the things that we pride ourselves on at the CEBL is constant experimentation. Championship weekend format, the ability to go to all of these different places, engage orders of government, engage tourism partners, engage local fans and businesses, I think was a viable model,” he said.
“I also think having a home playoff model, where you get to play in front of your home crowd on quick turnarounds, because playoffs, you never know what’s going to happen, is another interesting model.”
Fans, players, coaches and staff of teams in a developing league like the CEBL need to be comfortable with new ways of doing things, according to Ribeiro.
“I am supportive of the changes from a playoff format, but I’d also be supportive if we found another solution two years from now, or three years from now, that better served fans, better served the integrity of the game and kept the competition alive,” he said.
“The model that we built for the Surge and with our other sports properties is one that values constant experimentation, constant engagement with our fans and finding ways of engaging
our sponsors and other community leaders around what the best fit is for our league and if we can be that adaptive, I think we create a really compelling case for the CEBL.”
