Intercounty to Canadian: Kitchener Panthers turn ‘pro’ next season
Posted Nov 25, 2025 11:11:38 AM.
Last Updated Nov 25, 2025 01:46:11 PM.
The Kitchener Panthers are set to become a fully professional baseball team in 2026.
It comes as the Intercounty Baseball League (IBL) announced it will be shifting into the Canadian Baseball League (CBL), all part of its process to move from a semi-professional league to a professional one next season.
This will bring a list of changes to the league as a whole, like an extended season, changes to its playoff formats, and the future hope of expanding the league across the country.
“Fan interest in our League has exploded to historic levels,” said CBL Commissioner Ted Kalnins in a statement. “The quality of baseball has always been top-rate, with players drawn from across Canada, Latin America and Japan, but the main engine of our growth has been significantly enhanced fan experience, with fun in-game entertainment, contests, unique theme nights, and accessible players, all at a very affordable price for an entire family.”
The Kitchener Panthers General Manager, Shanif Hirani, said a majority of the changes will be at the league level, saying the biggest change fans will see is what’s being done off the field.
“A lot of the change is more on the back end of things,” he said. “Whether that’s a more standardized player contract or some of the administrations that we have to do on the back end in regards to players. When it comes to fan-facing, I think the main change they’ll see is a higher level of competition.”
One of the key differences will be around the post-season, where, previously, eight teams made the playoffs. Now, that number will track downward to just five teams, something Hirani is excited to see.
“It adds more competitiveness to the regular season. Every game is going to matter,” he said. “Whereas before, with eight teams making it, if you run through a little tough stretch, you can still bounce back. Here, there’ll be an even bigger focus on each individual game because one game could change the standings either way.”
List of changes heading into 2026 includes:
- Paid contracts for players, alongside the professional designation
- Regular season increasing from 42 to 48 total games
- 5 teams qualifying for playoffs instead of 8, including a ‘wild card’ one-game playoff between the 4th and 5th placed teams
- Two best-of-seven series playoff schedules for the semi-finals and championships
- Broadcasts offered live on YouTube, as well as content availability on Roku, FireTV, Apple TV, iOS, and Android apps
Both he and the league are excited about the added layer of credibility that will come from the change to the CBL.
“It adds a level of legitimacy to what we’re doing outside of the specific cities that we play in. The CBL has a little bit of a stronger message, I guess, if someone doesn’t know what the league is, so it adds legitimacy that way.”
Hirani added that, no matter what, it should lead to plenty of excitement for fans who have been committed to the league for decades, as well as for future fans who may be attending their first games next season.
“It’s something they can be excited about, saying ‘We have professional baseball in our home city.'” Hirani said. “I know I was always going to Panthers games growing up, but if I could say there was a pro team in my city, that’s something I would brag about.”
There should be no impact on how much fans are paying to get in the gates at Jack Couch Park. If anything, the team is still looking to make improvements to the overall experience, he said.
After the team added the new digital screen in the outfield last season, other upgrades, including seating and more, are still being discussed.
The league said it’s seen sizable boosts in attendance numbers, particularly over the last three years, where it consecutively beat its own records year-over-year. In 2025, it said it saw 249,590 fans attending games throughout the league.
It also said the shift marks the league as “the best professional baseball league in Canada,” having 64 players with either Major League Baseball (MLB) or Minor League Baseball experience in the last season alone, including Fernando Rodney of the Hamilton Cardinals.
In 2024, Liam Hicks, who formerly played with the Guelph Royals in 2018, was also named to the MLB roster for the Miami Marlins.
“Our history is what made our future possible,” Kalnins said. “Now, the Canadian Baseball League is ready to write the next chapter in the Canadian baseball story – one that will create an even better, more engaging, more memorable experience for our players, our communities, and most of all, our fans.”
The full list of details changing across the league heading next year is unknown, but the CBL said it will begin revealing more information through the next few weeks.
The Kitchener Panthers will look to make their mark on the CBL when the season begins in May.
