Fresh off a fifth-place finish at the 2024 Paris Olympics, Canada’s national men’s basketball team will be heading to Saskatchewan for the very first time.
On Tuesday, it was announced that Saskatoon will host a pair of games in the second window of the 2025 FIBA Men’s AmeriCup qualifiers as part of a partnership between Canada Basketball, the Canadian Elite Basketball League and the CEBL’s Saskatchewan Rattlers.
“I was approached to be one of the host cities,” said Rattlers president Lee Genier. “I put my hand up and said, ‘I’d absolutely love to bring this here and have the city be a part of this, the province.’ There was of course a lengthy bid process and we won that.”
Team Canada will face off against the Dominican Republic on November 21 at SaskTel Centre, before battling Mexico three days later on Nov. 24.
Points earned in the pair of games will go towards qualifying for the 2025 FIBA Men’s AmeriCup which is held every four years to determine a champion of North America, Central America, South America and the Caribbean.
Canada is already off to a 2-0 start to qualifying with wins picked up in February over Nicaragua during the first window of competition.
According to Genier, it will be a historic event with the hopes of selling out SaskTel Centre for the pair of dates.
“There’s a huge growth of basketball not just across Canada but in the province,” said Genier. “You look at the number of Canadians playing in the NBA. It’s just really exciting, with this being the first time the men’s national team has played in Saskatchewan as well.”
Canadian stars like Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, Jamal Murray and R.J. Barrett won’t be on the court in Saskatoon as their NBA seasons will be in full swing, however several members of Canada’s Olympic team outside of the NBA will be eligible to dress.
Genier hopes the international spotlight will further boost the sport at grassroots levels in the province and inspire more fans to take up basketball.
“The eyes of the world will be on Saskatoon,” said Genier. “There’s so many great things that are going to happen around this event to expose more people to basketball and being able to meet these players as they come to town. We’re playing Mexico and the Dominican Republic, so you got a real international flair to it.”
Single game and two-pack tickets are now on sale to the public through Ticketmaster and the Rattlers organization themselves.