Montréal is preparing for an action-packed weekend on August 9 to 11, 2024, as the host city of the CW24 for the very first time: the championship weekend for the Canadian Elite Basketball League (CEBL). Four CEBL teams — including the host team, the Montréal Alliance — will compete for the championship trophy at the Verdun Auditorium.
A fitting venue
Home to the Montréal Alliance, the fully retrofitted Verdun Auditorium — Montréal’s oldest auditorium — is a worthy place to host the country’s best basketball players, as the Eastern and Western Conferences battle it out first for their respective Finals, on Friday, August 9, and then for the Championship Final overall, on Sunday, August 11.
The 3,500-seat building, constructed in 1938, has hosted hockey teams, figure skating competitions, professional wrestling events and hundreds of other big athletic competitions. It has also been the setting for some historic music events, such as Metallica (1986), Nirvana (1993) and Foo Fighters (2003). If those walls could talk, they’d have some stories to tell!
In keeping with this legacy, the CW24 weekend will feature an outdoor festival, a concert program with top-notch artists, casual and exhibition basketball games and a range of activities designed for entertainment. The Verdun Auditorium is just one of Montréal’s fantastic sporting event venues designed to do more than just host the games.
The weekend at a glance
Split into the Eastern and the Western Conferences, the weekend centres around the Conference Finals double-header on Friday, August 9, which will then culminate in the Championship Final on Sunday, August 11. As the host team, the Montréal Alliance automatically participates in the Eastern Conference Final.
Purchasers of the Tournament Pack or the All-Access Pass will also benefit from behind-the-scenes events such as the annual The Commissioner’s Brunch, where CEBL Commissioner Mike Morreale reviews the season and outlines the next steps for the league’s growth. He will appear with a panel of guests to discuss the growth of basketball in Canada and the business of the sport.
CEBL players come from the NBA, NBA G League, top international professional leagues, the Canadian National Team program, the best programs of the NCAA, as well as from U Sports programs. Fourteen players signed NBA contracts after playing in the CEBL, and many CEBL players take part in annual NBA G League training camps.
Beyond the games
Although the championship weekend matches are the main draw for WC24, the festivities begin long before the finals. There’s the much-anticipated annual CEBL awards ceremony, unmissable musical performances, 3x3 basketball games and even a celebrity match on show. There’s definitely something for everyone.
The three musical performances at half-time are Shreez, at halftime of the Western Conference Final, FouKi at halftime of the Eastern Conference Final, and Fefe Dobson at halftime of the Championship Game.
Montréal knows intimately the importance of expanding sporting events into cultural, community gatherings with all sorts of extra programming; that’s why we’ve become a world reference for the winning strategy of organizing sports festivals.
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