The Edmonton Stingers have been with the Canadian Elite Basketball League since the beginning. Jordan Baker has been there from the beginning too. He’s a former forward, now the head coach, general manager and president of the team. He’s getting the team ready for a new season.
“We have a handful of returning players that we really like and some new faces,” Baker says. “It looks like we’ll have a strong team. And the key for us is always trying to get good people in the building, players that will represent Edmonton the right way in the community all summer long.”
The 2026 season starts May 9 with a game against the Winnipeg Sea Bears. Baker says that the team wants to win games, but also get Edmontonians in seats and make the experience as fun as possible.
“We try to cater to a family-friendly experience and an affordable experience. We’re not charging crazy concession prices. We’re not charging crazy ticket prices. And whether you’re a basketball fan or not, there’s something for everybody.” That includes halftime shows and music during games, quarter break contests and lots of other ways to engage with the team.
Community spirit — and giving back to the community that supports them — is as important to the Stingers as winning games. It’s something that Baker wants new players to understand.
“It’s not just on court commitments that they’re signing up for this summer. It’s understanding and embracing some of the community engagement pieces we have,” Baker says.
The team holds youth camps, events for season ticket holders and contributes to Ronald McDonald House in addition to its own sport-focused initiatives. Those include Basketball Bridge, a partnership with Sterling Homes which connects professional and amateur basketball in Edmonton together, Fresh Hoops, which refreshes run-down basketball courts throughout the city in collaboration with the Edmonton Public Schools Foundation, and a Coach of the Month program at the youth, junior high and high school levels. The Stingers also host an all-star showcase for the 24 best male and female basketball players at the high school level.
“The other eight months of the year we try to stay relevant in the basketball community. We run a lot of camps and coaching clinics and especially youth programming to try to get kids involved in the game and get them to understand that the Stingers are not just a summertime thing. We want to be the pinnacle of basketball, all year long,” Baker says. He says the team works year-round to build new relationships within the business community of Edmonton.
Looking to the future of Canadian Basketball, Baker has high hopes. Some of the players across the league are on the doorstep of the NBA, and they also have players qualifying for the Olympics. His goal on the business side of things? To broaden the reach of CEBL games on TV.
“We want to be on TSN and CBC, we want our reach to be coast to coast, and we want to grow off-season basketball as a source for NBA fans and basketball fans across North America,” Baker says.
The Stingers’ season runs from May until August, and fans can catch games at the Edmonton Expo Centre as they take on opponents from across the country. Select games will be playing on TV carried by the CBC, and all the games will be available to watch on CBC Gem.
