{"id":654850,"date":"2026-05-08T00:28:09","date_gmt":"2026-05-08T00:28:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/654850\/"},"modified":"2026-05-08T00:28:09","modified_gmt":"2026-05-08T00:28:09","slug":"fan-experience-no-1-for-mark-cuban-new-minority-owner-of-cebls-brampton-honey-badgers","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/654850\/","title":{"rendered":"Fan experience No. 1 for Mark Cuban, new minority owner of CEBL’s Brampton Honey Badgers"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"Text<\/p>\n

Listen to this article<\/p>\n

Estimated 5 minutes<\/p>\n

The audio version of this article is generated by AI-based technology. Mispronunciations can occur. We are working with our partners to continually review and improve the results.<\/p>\n

When Mark Cuban purchased the Dallas Mavericks\u00a0in 2000, the NBA team sported a 40-42 record the previous season and wasn\u2019t far removed from several lean years.<\/p>\n

The entrepreneur in Cuban wanted to fill the seats, so he remembers making phone calls to fans and telling them attending a Mavericks game \u201cis cheaper than going to McDonald\u2019s.\u201d <\/p>\n

On Thursday, the Brampton Honey Badgers announced Cuban had bought an ownership stake in the Canadian Elite Basketball League club entering its fourth season in the Ontario city following a move Hamilton after winning the 2022 championship. <\/p>\n

\u201cCanadian basketball is probably the most underappreciated in the world,\u201d Cuban stated in a news release. \u201cThe talent here is through the roof and getting better by the day.\u201d<\/p>\n

EXCLUSIVE | Cuban joins CBC Sports to discuss stake in Honey Badgers:\"\"<\/p>\n

Mark Cuban on why he decided to become part-owner of the CEBL’s Brampton Honey Badgers<\/p>\n

The billionaire business icon speaks with Donnovan Benett to share why he’s investing in Canadian basketball, why he thinks basketball in Canada is “top notch,” and how he’ll bring what he learned from his time with the Dallas Mavericks to the CEBL.<\/p>\n

The CEBL has teams in six provinces and 70 per cent of its players are from Canada, the highest proportion of domestic talent in any professional league in the country.<\/p>\n

Brampton opens the regular season May 15 against visiting Ottawa coming off a last-place finish in the 10-team league.<\/p>\n

For Cuban, fan experience is his top priority. Years ago, the 67-year-old got in trouble for telling fellow NBA owners they were in the \u201cexperiences business,\u201d not the basketball business.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s all about what the fans experience. Two weeks [after attending a game] you don\u2019t remember the jump shots or score of the game, but you remember who you were with,\u201d Cuban said in an exclusive interview Thursday with CEBL on CBC Sports host Donnovan Bennett.<\/p>\n

“The Honey Badgers already do a great job with fan experience, and we\u2019re going to try to make it better. That\u2019s where I\u2019ll push hard. And when you win, that makes it better, too.\u201d<\/p>\n

Sold majority stake in Mavericks in 2023<\/p>\n

Cuban speaks from experience, having turned around the Mavericks and helping them to the 2011 title.<\/p>\n

He played an active role as owner before selling a majority stake in November 2023 and retaining 27 per cent ownership. He was credited for his willingness to spend to acquire top talent, fostering team chemistry and building a family-like atmosphere.<\/p>\n

Cuban is excited to bring his experience to Brampton, looking forward to attending games and encouraging people to purchase an affordable ticket to watch the action at CAA Centre.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019re affordable family fun,\u201d he said. \u201cIt\u2019s cheaper to go to a Honey Badgers game than it is to go to the movies or out to dinner. That\u2019s critical because people are looking for affordable entertainment.\u201d<\/p>\n

By making games affordable, noted the American billionaire, you\u2019re building a fanbase.<\/p>\n

\u201cOnce you get that connection, hopefully it\u2019s a lifetime connection. The beautiful part about coming to a Honey Badgers game is it\u2019s the one place you can stand up and scream and yell and not get in trouble,\u201d Cuban said, smiling.<\/p>\n

In Brampton, Cuban is reunited with longtime Mavericks executive and now Badgers CEO, Al\u00a0Whitley.\u00a0Their friendship spans 25 years.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis is a historic and landmark day for our franchise,\u201d\u00a0Whitley\u00a0said. \u201cMark\u2019s business acumen, championship pedigree and philanthropic endeavours make this relationship one that Brampton Honey Badgers wholeheartedly cherish and are grateful for.\u201d<\/p>\n

Former Shark Tank co-star<\/p>\n

Beyond his NBA success, Cuban is recognized from his 13 years with the Emmy Award-winning television show\u00a0Shark Tank\u00a0as one of five investors who listened to presentations and pitches of investment from small companies.<\/p>\n

In 2022, Cuban co-founded Dallas-based Cost Plus Drugs, a public benefit corporation focused on providing pharmaceutical drugs to the public at a lower cost.<\/p>\n

Leonard Asper, a Canadian businessperson, entrepreneur and lawyer, is majority owner of the Badgers, and was introduced to\u00a0Whitley\u00a0by Cuban.<\/p>\n

\u201cNo one brings more basketball knowledge and winning culture than Mark,\u201d said Asper, the president CEO, and majority shareholder of Toronto-based Anthem Sports & Entertainment Corp., a global media company that produces, distributes, and broadcasts content.<\/p>\n

\u201cAll of us at the Honey Badgers are honoured to have him join this organization.\u201d<\/p>\n

In March, CBC Sports announced a five-year partnership with the CEBL. Marquee games, including the first best-of-three league championship in August, will air on CBC-TV while all contests will be live streamed on CBC Gem and CBC Sports YouTube.<\/p>\n

CBC Sports also served as the league\u2019s original broadcaster from 2019 to 2022.<\/p>\n

The regular season opens Saturday in Edmonton with the Stingers battling Winnipeg Sea Bears at 3:30 p.m. ET.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Listen to this article Estimated 5 minutes The audio version of this article is generated by AI-based technology.…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":654851,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[194339],"tags":[51759,49,48],"class_list":["post-654850","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-brampton","tag-brampton","tag-ca","tag-canada"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/654850","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=654850"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/654850\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/654851"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=654850"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=654850"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=654850"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}