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Long Island Nets schedule four ‘Home’ games in Montreal for 2025-26

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The Long Island Nets have officially announced their home schedule for the upcoming season, a total of 24 home games. And of those 24, four will be played in Montreal where Long Island played six last season at Place Bell in suburban Laval as the Brooklyn Sports and Entertainment tries to build a fan base among French Canadians and their partner, CH Groupe, seeks to show the NBA that Canada’s second largest city can support an expansion team.

While last year was deemed an experiment by BSE Global officials, fans in Canada’s were left wondering at the end of last season if they’d seen the end of the partnership with Canada’s Groupe CH, parent of the Montreal Canadians hockey club and the city’s leading sports group.

Now, with the second year of cooperation, the experiment has become a feature of the Quebec’s winter sports scene.

“We are thrilled to return to Laval this season and continue the momentum from last year,” said Morgan Taylor, Head of Business Operations for the Long Island Nets and New York Liberty. “The passion and support we’ve seen from Canadian basketball fans has been incredible and it’s clear there’s a strong appetite for professional basketball in Quebec. Our partnership not only expands the G League’s presence in a new market, but also creates meaningful opportunities for players, coaches, and fans to connect through the game as basketball’s global appeal continues to grow.”

Despite the success last season, it was uncertain until now whether there would be a second season north of the border.

Indeed, when NetsDaily last had the chance to speak with Taylor, she was hopeful that their partnership would continue into this season but not yet committed.

“Our on-court play has been exciting,” she said after the first set of games at the 10,000-capacity Place Bell. “Our four games we had in Montreal were all close, and it’s been fun. How do we follow it up? We’re still evaluating our partnership and seeing what it looks like year-over-year and what it looks like next year,” said Taylor.

The data accumulated over the full six games showed things worked out well.

  • The series drew nearly 40,000 fans — an average of 6,600 with the first game against the Raptors 905 setting a new home attendance record, with 7,700 people in attendance in Laval.
  • Long Island also hosted local basketball clinics in the Montreal metro area with their full team in attendance.
  • The Nets sold specialized “Les Nets” merchandise which sold out during first two games.

Taylor also told ND that making the city of Montreal the “Nets home” was a major theme by “I think the biggest thing was looking at changing our name,” she added. “The G-League has unique opportunities for teams to kind of take on a new identity. So, we took on Montreal and the culture and turned our name into ‘Les Nets’ for the stint of six games.” The marketing effort was steered by Ron Goldenberg, Brooklyn’s VP of International Marketing & Innovation and a Montreal native

She also noted that the Nets organization learned from dealing with the Canadiens and Groupe CH.

“They are a temple in the sports industry, and it’s been great,” said Taylor. “The partnership and synergies between BSEG Global and Groupe CH, you can tell they’re a lot from a business standpoint. We both own multiple venues and multiple teams. So, they were excited about bringing basketball to Montreal, and it’s great that we were able to help support them with that.”

Montreal, the ninth most populous city in North America is viewed as a second-tier expansion candidate, along with Vancouver and Mexico City. Las Vegas and Seattle are viewed as the top candidates whenever the league decides to expand beyond the current 30 teams. Groupe CH is viewed as the NBA’s most likely partner in Montreal should that take place.

Long Island’s first two home games at the Place Bell in Laval, QC, Canada, will take place on Thursday, January 8th, and Friday, January 9th. Both games will be played against the Wisconsin Herd. Their final two games will take place on Sunday, February 8th, and Tuesday, February 10th, as they square off with the Noblesville Boom, the new Pacers affiliate.

The initiative is a testament to how extensive Brooklyn Sports & Entertainment international marketing operation has become. According to NBA data, the Brooklyn Nets are the third most popular NBA team in both France and China. It’s not much of a stretch to think that the French-speaking Canada could be an attractive region to mine for the Nets. Joe Tsai is a Canadian citizen, having spent part of his childhood in Vancouver, and until recently, Jordi Fernandez was the head coach of Team Canada.

For a long time, the NBA teams have had very limited horizons for their G League affiliates. They’ve been about development on the basketball side and experimenting with rules like Elam Ending, and other in-game innovations. Brooklyn has taken it further. They are now using their G League team in an attempt to open up international horizons for the big club.

“The G-League is at the forefront for being the testing ground of the NBA,” Taylor told ND. “And for the sports industry as a whole. So, to play a part in that has been tremendous.”

The announcement also included news of Opening Night, at Nassau Coliseum: November 7 vs. Capital City Go-Go and other key dates.

The NBA G League schedule includes two parts – a 14-game Tip-Off Tournament and a 36-game regular season. After all 31 NBA G League teams play regionally during the Tip-Off Tournament, records will reset for the start of the 36-game regular season, which begins at the NBA G League Winter Showcase.

Long Island will celebrate its 10th season in the NBA G League this year. The schedule will include seven games that will be played on Friday, Saturday or Sunday. The LI Nets’ home schedule is highlighted by one morning contest, the team’s annual Education Day on Tuesday, December 9, versus College Park, and three afternoon contests at the Coliseum.

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Source: https://www.netsdaily.com/longislan...games-in-montreal-for-2025-26-g-league-season
 
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