The Ottawa BlackJacks have a new owner heading into their seventh year in the Canadian Elite Basketball League.
The former league-owned club was acquired Thursday by Diamond Sports Canada Inc., a subsidiary of Australian company Global Sports Fund Management Group. The announcement tied the bow on the eight-month conversation between new owner Justin Pascoe and league commissioner Mike Morreale.
“I feel incredibly privileged to be afforded the opportunity to help build a franchise that the entire community can be proud of,” Pascoe said in an online statement. “We believe that by bringing our global operating experience to the table, we can complement the hard-working and talented staff here and help elevate the organization to new heights.”
The terms of the new ownership deal were not publicly released.
Pascoe and his company are the first private group with an ownership stake in the BlackJacks and the first international owners in league history.
“What we provide as a point of difference is that we come with operational experience and we position that,” Pascoe, also the owner of an Australian soccer club, said at the press conference.
“It’s not just capital that we have, it’s actual experience that we can bring.”
The BlackJacks are the eighth team in the league to move to private ownership in the last three years.
“There was a lack of direction because of how the ownership played out — the teams that didn’t have a dedicated owner … will tend to suffer,” Morreale said at the press conference.
With a new roadmap under Pascoe’s ownership, BlackJacks general manager James Derouin said he hopes for more star power next season.
The club played without five key players in last year’s playoff game, including Javonte Smart, Zane Waterman and Keevan Veinot who all left for other basketball opportunities.
Basketball action will bounce back to Ottawa stands in May with the BlackJacks kicking off their seventh season at TD Place Arena.
Featured image by James Paddle-Grant/Freestyle Photography
