Ottawa basketball fans have plenty to look forward to this summer as the Canadian Elite Basketball League returns to CBC for another high-octane season — and 2026 is shaping up to be the most dramatic edition yet.
The CEBL has always had a flair for the theatrical, but two major format changes this year are set to crank up the intensity even further — good news for anyone cheering on the Ottawa BlackJacks.
Every Game Ends on a Made Basket
If you've never caught a CEBL game before, here's the thing that sets it apart from NBA or NCAA basketball: no buzzer-beaters that clang off the rim and end the night on a deflating miss. The league uses what's called an Elam Ending — a target-score format where, in the final minutes, a target score is set and the game ends the moment a team hits it with a made basket.
That means every single CEBL game — home or away, regular season or playoffs — concludes on a bucket. Drama is essentially baked in by rule. For fans watching at home on CBC or catching a BlackJacks game live, it's a format that guarantees no game quietly fizzles out in garbage time.
The Championship Just Got More Intense
The other headline change this season is to the championship structure. For the first time in league history, the CEBL Finals will be a best-of-three series rather than a one-game winner-take-all.
The format rewards regular-season performance: the lower seed hosts Game 1, while the team with the better record gets home-court advantage for Games 2 and 3. That means a strong regular season run could give the BlackJacks a meaningful edge if they make a deep playoff push — two home games in a championship series is a significant advantage, and Ottawa fans know how much energy a packed home crowd can bring.
Why Ottawa Should Be Watching
The BlackJacks have been one of the more compelling stories in the CEBL since the league's early days, and with the added stakes of a multi-game final, every regular-season game carries more weight than ever. Seeding matters now.
Having the league's games broadcast on CBC also means wider reach for Canadian basketball at a moment when the sport is genuinely on the rise nationwide. The CEBL has quietly become a serious proving ground for Canadian talent, and this season's format changes signal the league is maturing into something worth following week to week — not just checking scores on.
Whether you're a die-hard BlackJacks supporter or a casual fan who likes the idea of professional hoops in Canada, this is a good summer to tune in.
How to Watch
CEBL games air on CBC and CBC Gem, making it easy to catch the BlackJacks no matter where you are in Ottawa. Check the CBC Sports schedule and the BlackJacks' official website for tip-off times as the season gets underway.
Source: CBC Sports
