Hoops and Dreams

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On May 27, 2023, the Winnipeg Sea Bears, the city’s newest professional sports club made Canadian Elite Basketball League (CEBL) history as they broke the league attendance record in their first game. In a league where most teams bring in 2,000 to 3,000 fans per game, getting in that range would already be a success. But when the evening of the first game arrived, the Sea Bears knew they were in for a crowd never witnessed in a CEBL game. 

Thousands of Manitobans in basketball jerseys flooded the streets of downtown Winnipeg for pre-game tailgating. They arrived hours ahead of the game, preparing to put their new team on national notice. In the arena and on the streets the typical blue and white colours of Winnipeg Jets sweaters were nowhere in sight. Instead, jerseys and t-shirts of various NBA players and teams flooded the scene, along with a new, sharp teal and white colour scheme, the official colours of the Sea Bears.

As fans took to their seats before tip-off, they were greeted to a whole new floor setup that could trick one into thinking they were at an NBA game. Teal and white paint grazed the floor along with a near spotless hardwood court with a big white polar bear head in the centre. As warmups began, the lower bowl of the arena was already jammed full with fans breaking into chants as they watched their new team take the floor for their first ever pregame shootaround. 

Fans held their game programs close as they started to familiarize themselves with the names of the players and which team they previously played for. Winnipeg-born Sea Bears Simon Hildebrandt, Chad Posthumus, and Justus Alleyn were more recognizable, flying around the court acknowledging their hometown fans. Others required a quick Google search. Fans learned many of them had played in various professional leagues around the world with some even having NBA experience.

The game began and the Sea Bears began to put on a show. They went on to make their fans proud, winning in thrilling fashion as Posthumus put the game away with a game winning layup. But winning the game was a mere detail after they announced the attendance at the end of the game. A total of 7,303 fans had attended, not only setting a new league record but shattering the previous by over 3,000 spectators. Over five years of the CEBL’s existence and Winnipeg only needed a single game. This is the moment Stefanie Lasuik, head of marketing and communications for the Sea Bears knew she had something special on her hands, and months of preparation were about to pay off.

“It almost didn’t feel real,” Lasuik said when reflecting on the first game. “We had our nose to the grindstone for so long and didn’t have time to think about what it would look like if it all came together. We were more focused on troubleshooting and what could go wrong and to see it come together near flawlessly, we had goosebumps. It felt like our efforts came through in the way we wanted to.”

Lasuik and her marketing team of two had been working hard since joining the Sea Bears in March 2023. Just two months ahead of their first ever game, she knew they had to act quickly, trying to appeal to a growing basketball community that hadn’t been home to a professional basketball team in over two decades.

“Everything we did was deliberate,” Lasuik said. “We knew our market was a basketball community, so we aimed to be accessible.”

One of the accessibility tactics was keeping prices low. Single game tickets started at $19, a third of the price for a Jets game. Seating at Sea Bears games is also lower bowl only, allowing fans to be up and close to the action for a fraction of the price. Lasuik built partnerships with local radio stations for contests and live game broadcasts, and TSN stepped in to provide a stream to every game while also broadcasting several games nationally on cable.

She even built a strong social media presence before the season even began. One of the first social campaigns allowed fans to vote on the team mascot’s name. It spanned several weeks, allowing fans to have their say and become familiar with the meaning behind their team. Lasuik says the name Sea Bears, which is based off polar bears found in northern Manitoba, was chosen to include all of Manitoba instead of just Winnipeg.

Another tactic was bringing in local basketball stars.

“It was important for Winnipeggers to see the home-grown product on the team so signing guys like Chad Posthumus and Simon Hildebrandt were big for us,” Lasuik said. “People can see the success of the city through those type of players on our team. That’s not something every CEBL team does but that’s what we wanted to do.”

The move not only got fans in the building, but it also played a massive role in the Sea Bears earning a victory in their first game. Hildebrandt, the 19-year-old rookie, posted 13 points in his first-ever professional game, and Posthumus secured the victory with a game winning layup to send Canada Life Centre into another frenzy.

To Lasuik, the first home game signified a lot more than just getting a victory. 

“It felt like a community,” Lasuik said. “Just seeing everyone interacting and people who haven’t been to Canada Life Centre before getting to go to a game and connect with everybody else there was incredible.”

The Sea Bears early success only grew from there. They went on to win eight of 11 games to open the season, reaching first place in the league. Non-local players such as Teddy Allen and Jelani Watson-Gayle became essential pieces to their success, leading various stat categories league wide. Winning brought in more fans, and the Sea Bears continued to break their own attendance record on multiple occasions, reaching over 8,000 spectators in their final regular season game. The Sea Bears finished the regular season second place in the CEBL’s Western Conference, clinching a playoff game on home-court in Winnipeg. This served as the perfect opportunity for the Sea Bears to break their attendance record one last time in 2023.

Ahead of the playoff game they announced they were bringing in multi-Juno Award winning rapper Kardinal Offishall to perform during half-time. They also expanded ticket sales, opening up Canada Life Centre’s upper bowl for the first time. The Sea Bears went on to lose 87-81 to the Edmonton Stingers and were eliminated from the playoffs. But all was not lost. The Sea Bears announced 10,580 people attended the game, a new record. They played in front of a total 65,426 fans over the entirety of the season. Lasuik was pleased with how it ended up and has since set her sights on the 2024 season beginning in May.

“We don’t know what to expect,” Lasuik said. “We’re trying to go into it realistically but on top of our already awesome fan base there are lots of people who wanted to get to games that couldn’t so we know there is still a market that could become Sea Bears fans soon.”

The third member of the Sea Bears local trio was CEBL veteran Justus Alleyn. Alleyn moved to Winnipeg from Montreal when he was 11. Only a few years later he became one of Manitoba’s best young basketball players and began drawing attention from scouts. Soon after, he committed to play for the University of Manitoba Bisons where his career began to take off.

Alleyn spent four seasons with the Bisons, putting together one of the best individual seasons in program history averaging 23.8 points per game in 2017-18. One of the best players in the country, he was able to make the jump to professional ball. He went on to sign contracts with various professional clubs over the next few seasons, playing in different European leagues and even making a stop in Canada with the CEBL’s Saskatchewan Rattlers. Following the 2021 season Alleyn stepped away from basketball and began working in Winnipeg. After two years of not playing, and the announcement of the Sea Bears, Alleyn decided to make a comeback.

“When I heard Winnipeg was getting a team the wheels began turning in my head to get back,” Alleyn said. “Mike Taylor (Sea Bears head coach and general manager) got in contact with me, and we talked during the winter and leading up to training camp and went from there. I played lots in training camp and ended up getting a spot on the team.”

Playing professionally in Winnipeg was something he’d dreamed of since high school. He recalls growing up when the local basketball community was much smaller, then watching it quickly shift to one of the largest in the country. He credits the game becoming more accessible for a lot of it.

“You see it on TV and on your phone,” Alleyn said. “I remember when I was younger watching cable television it was rare you would see an NBA game on TV. Maybe if the (Toronto) Raptors were playing and there wasn’t a hockey game on, they might throw it on. Now there’s so much action.”

Alleyn recalls a time from 2019 when he thought about the possibility of Winnipeg getting a professional team. He was playing in Saskatoon at the time and saw how many people attended their games and began to think a team in Winnipeg could potentially be even bigger. When the Sea Bears played their first game, it was a full circle moment for Alleyn.

“It was a dream true,” Alleyn said. “I’d look up in the crowd and see so many people I know. Even people out and about coming up to me saying how much they enjoyed watching us. It surpassed their expectations even to see the level of play of what Canadian basketball is at right now.”

Since the 2023 season, Alleyn’s been motivated to keep growing the game locally by helping teach the Sea Bears summer youth basketball camp. Last summer, alongside Posthumus and Taylor, they taught over 100 kids the fundamentals of basketball and raised money to help continue growing basketball for Manitoba’s next generation of athletes. 

One reason the Sea Bears success has been so notable is because of the rocky past for professional basketball in Manitoba. Back in 1992, the Winnipeg Thunder were Winnipeg’s first-ever professional team and were owned by Sam Katz. They played in the World Basketball League (WBL), a nine-team minor professional league with American and Canadian teams including Calgary, Saskatoon, and Halifax. The Thunder’s future was in jeopardy only months later when the WBL shutdown due to the league’s founder and CEO Mickey Monus getting caught embezzling money for the league from his pharmacy business in Youngstown, Ohio. Katz didn’t want to see professional basketball leave Winnipeg so soon. In 1993 he joined a group of businessmen who were forming a new basketball league in Canada. The National Basketball League (NBL) quickly came to life and became Canada’s home for basketball. 

Eight different teams from across the country, including the Thunder, became a league like the modern-day CEBL. The Thunder had a successful first season, finishing second place while playing home games out of then Winnipeg Jets home, Winnipeg Arena. But after only a season and a half, the team went through some significant changes due to financial issues. Katz stopped the team and league, forcing another reset. The NBL folded, and Canadian cities were left without teams with no plans for another Canadian league.

But again, a local businessman wanted to keep professional basketball in Winnipeg alive. Earl Barish, founder of Dickie Dee’s ice cream trucks, became president of the International Basketball Association (IBA), and helped start the Winnipeg Cyclone in 1995. The Cyclone were set up for success early on. They hired Darryl Dawkins, a 14-year NBA veteran, to coach their team. They also moved into a new home at the RBC Convention Centre, a much cheaper venue to operate out of. 

The Cyclone got off to a good start, accomplishing a 14-10 record in their inaugural season. They continued to be competitive for the next three years while becoming Winnipeg’s longest tenured professional basketball team. However, the success didn’t last long, as the team’s play began to dip over the next two seasons and their local popularity also dropped. Playing in front of tiny crowds of less than 1,500 in an already small venue, the Cylcone weren’t the only ones having attendance issues. League-wide teams were struggling to make enough money to operate. This led to a decision to disband the league in 2001, leaving the Cyclone and professional basketball in Manitoba out of business.

The next two decades in Manitoba saw many exciting basketball moments, but none at the professional level. University basketball went strong with national appearances from University of Manitoba and The University of Winnipeg men’s and women’s teams on multiple occasions. The game also got bigger with more facilities opening to feed a growing basketball community.

In 2019, executive director of Basketball Manitoba, Adam Wedlake witnessed an 11 per cent increase in basketball registrations. He said this was partially brought on by the Raptors NBA championship run, which saw Canada’s one and only NBA club win their first-ever championship. The Sporting News announced 44 per cent of Canada had tuned into the championship clinching game at some point, breaking Canadian basketball viewership history. Wedlake said Covid-19 caused Basketball Manitoba to hit an untimely reset as it came just months after the big surge. But once the Sea Bears arrived, that number shot up once again.

In December 2023, Basketball Manitoba reported a 23 per cent increase in registrations, a new record. Wedlake gives a lot of credit to Manitoba’s new basketball club.

“It’s people seeing the excitement and saying, ‘I want to get on the court and have some fun’,” Wedlake said. “Just having them in the city now after a whole generation passed without a pro team has deservingly put Manitoba back on the basketball map very fast.”

What surprised Wedlake the most was the 30 per cent increase in adults began signing up to play, another new record.

“Inspiration is the biggest thing,” Wedlake said. “People assume sports is only for young people and as we get older, we start to fade out of it.”

Wedlake said some of the growth has also come from immigration as Manitoba’s Filipino community continues to grow its already strong presence in the local basketball scene. 

“They stand out in the growth every year,” Wedlake said. “They’ve brought a passion for basketball and experience that is making the game bigger and better.”

With all the new registrations, Basketball Manitoba is finding itself busier than ever before. But with so many new players and teams being formed, the need for referees, coaches, and facilities is greater than ever. Wedlake said this has always been an issue but with the recent surge, it’s become critical. Basketball Manitoba has since began working with stakeholders and architects to maximize Manitoba’s current facilities and renovate several outdated gyms. Wedlake said it’s been difficult to keep up with, but he is happier than ever.

“The challenge is big, but I’ll take it any day over numbers declining and gyms sitting empty.”

The Sea Bears may have fallen short in the playoffs, but their other successes and accomplishments are worth much more in helping set Manitoba up for a future of great basketball moments.

At the heart of it accessibility. Basketball is a simple game where you only need a ball, a hoop, and a pair of sneakers. For a province like Manitoba where hockey, a relatively expensive sports, is so popular, basketball is becoming a welcome alternative. With the Sea Bears and locals like Alleyn, Hildebrandt, and Posthumus performing well, it will only continue to inspire more people to play. As time goes on, it seems almost inevitable that basketball will continue to grow.

Looking to 2024, it will be another exciting season for the Sea Bears and Manitoba. Lasuik understands the challenge of replicating 2023 but is excited to build off it. The Sea Bears have already began signing new players for the upcoming season. Most of their additions include CEBL veterans, which will help round out an already strong roster with championship aspirations.

Beyond 2024, the Sea Bears are already finding ways to excite their fans. The CEBL announced that Winnipeg will host the 2025 CEBL championship, which will guarantee the hometown Sea Bears a semi-final playoff berth — the perfect time to break their attendance record once again.