Vancouver Bandits named 2024 CEBL Franchise of the Year
Published
The Canadian Elite Basketball League (CEBL) announced Wednesday the Vancouver Bandits have been named the 2024 CEBL Franchise of the Year. The Bandits, who also took home the Digital Excellence Award and Community Champion honours last week, officially won three of the four annual Business Awards, while Jason Smith from the Winnipeg Sea Bears secured Executive of the Year on Tuesday.
FRANCHISE OF THE YEAR
Awarded to the franchise that best represents the values of the CEBL through good internal governance, engagement in the community, commitment to innovation, success on the basketball court and with revenue generation, demonstration of a long-term vision for sustainable business growth, and promotion of Canadian basketball.
2024 Winner: Vancouver Bandits
The Vancouver Bandits experienced tremendous success both on and off the court in 2024.
In addition to winning three 2024 CEBL Business Awards (Digital Excellence, Community Champion, Franchise of the Year), the club produced the league’s MVP (Tazé Moore), Canadian Player of the Year (Koby McEwen) and Coach of the Year (Kyle Julius) at the 2024 CEBL Awards, while earning a berth in the CEBL Championship Final for the second time in franchise history.
The Bandits registered their best regular season record ever with a 14-6 finish, securing first place overall and the top seed in the CEBL Playoffs for the first time. They went near-perfect at home (9-1) and posted a league-best plus-177 overall point differential, almost 50 points better than the next closest team.
The 2024 CEBL Business Awards consist of four awards given in recognition of accomplishments at both the team and executive level (Award – Announcement Date – Winner):
Digital Excellence Award – Tuesday, October 22 – Vancouver Bandits
Community Champion – Thursday, October 24 – Vancouver Bandits
Executive of the Year – Tuesday, October 29 – Jason Smith, President, Winnipeg Sea Bears
🡪Franchise of the Year – Wednesday, October 30 – Vancouver Bandits
Award winners were voted on by different variations of groups comprised of league and team executives, including but not limited to the CEBL’s Deputy Commissioner and Chief Operating Officer, and all 10 team presidents.