A CFL Team in Ottawa?

Hamilton Tiger-Cats
1

Found this on the CBC Website

Ottawa CFL team announcement coming soon: mayor
Last Updated: Tuesday, September 25, 2007 | 11:45 AM ET
CBC News

Ottawa's mayor says he has been in close talks with a group of investors interested in bringing a professional football team back to the city.

"It's a group of very high-quality, very, as they say, deep-pocketed Ottawa businesspeople who have a reputation for being very astute," Larry O'Brien told reporters Monday afternoon. "I've talked to them. I've talked to the CFL."

He added that the group members interested in a Canadian Football League franchise have asked that their names not be released yet, but he thinks they will release their identities within the next week or two.

O'Brien made the announcement at a new conference about the detailed engineering report that recommended demolishing or fixing the lower south side stands of Frank Clair Stadium in Lansdowne Park, which were deemed at risk of collapsing due to structural deterioration.

The stadium was the former home of the Ottawa Renegades. The CFL team played there for four years until 2006, when the owners shut it down while searching for a new owner. However, talks between prospective owners, the CFL and the City of Ottawa have never yet yielded an agreement.

O'Brien said he favours knocking down the lower portion of the south side stands of the stadium, given the findings of the engineering report.
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"I think that's very clearly something that would be the safest thing to do, it's something that's got to be done. Let's get it over with," he said. "And then I think we should open up the field to see who wants to be involved in redeveloping Lansdowne Park."

That includes the new prospective CFL team owners, who are interested in redeveloping the park "in a way that would maximize the return to the citizens of Ottawa," O'Brien said.

Cheers,

Brox

2

Interesting. But I wouldn't want to sit in the south stands regardless of the work completed.

3

Sounds to good to be true, expansion here we come :stuck_out_tongue:

4

Ottawa, soory fans, twice failed, time to move on (London, Quebec, Halifax)

5

Hope they're called the Rough Riders. Renegades ****ed. (as did the Concorde.)

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I'd love to have football back in ottawa. I feel for the fans in Ottawa. Lets make sure you have solid ownership first. Good Luck.

7

To have local ownership there would be awesome!

8

have not we heard this before?

9

Gimme a break. Why do we want to see another team in Ottawa fail...wait a minute....exit draft when they fold...methinks it sounds great. Seriously though. Forget Ottawa this League needs to get serious about another destination.

10

The present Ottawa Mayor was a season ticket holder in the past. So I would imagine he has some interest in seeing CFL football return to the Nation's Capital.
Melnyk would be the guy to make it work if the stadium deal is right for him.

I have family in Ottawa and have been to several games there. The potential is there to average 25,000 with the right ownership. It might take a couple of years to win back some of the fans confidence but its a very possible situation.

Ottawa is like bringing in a player that has proved he can play in the league. London, QC and Halifax are potentials but until you actually see them on game day we don't know if they're for real.
I would like to see those three cities in the league but I think any owner would be wise to do a lot of research before laying down the cash for an expansion team.
Of course that's won't be necessary in the foreseeable future as most teams require a STADIUM to play in.

11

The Ottawa fans have endured the absolute worst owners in CFL history. The Dweebermans twice (junior and senior), the Horned Chen, etc, etc.

I could understand how all the Ottawa fans could be jaded for decades. After all, the owners have always let that city down. The last commish definitely has to take his share of the blame for letting Loonie get his hands back on a team in Ottawa too.

At one time, that city took real pride in their team and it could happen again if some one or some group made a long term investment. They would have to be patient and committed and most of all, sane.

I hope for a return of the CFL to our nation's capital. Frank Claire stadium is a very good venue. Fix it up or lose the potential for a CFL return.

Go Rough Riders!! :cowboy:

12

I think the SMS system would help the situation immediately for Ottawa. They obviously couldn't afford to spend as much as some other teams in their last go, and I think that hurt them. At least with the SMS you have a basic system in place to curb expenditures.

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It's front page news in this mornings Citizen. These local owners moved fast when they saw the potential that they may want to tear down the stadium.

As for the south side stands, it's only the lower portion that was built in 1962 that is the problem. The upper deck is fine and can stay, the upper is not attached to the lower deck.

For you guys that don't live here in Ottawa and are criticizing - go and support your own team before criticizing Ottawa. Remember it wasn't that long ago 3 or 4 yers? that Hamilton was averaging 14,000 and should have folded, but a saviour named Bob Young came along when no one else was interested.
I live in Ottawa and know the potential here. It's a sports town - sell outs at all the FIFA U20 games, 27,500 for 8 soccer games, highest average attendance in Jr hockey at the Civic Center for 67s hockey, 20,000 average for the Sens (45 home games in an arena that is miles from the downtown.

Just need decent local owners, and reasonable rent for the stadium.

http://www.canada.com/ottawacitizen/index.html http://www.sportsnet.ca/football/cfl/
14

After so many years without a team in Ottawa .

Having attended a game there in the sixties that I have fond memories of and recalling all the great players to come out of that franchise .

I really want a CFL team back in Ottawa!

15

With local ownership, really the way the CFL seems best to operate, it should be easier to make it a win-win for all parties involved as they all have a stake in the community.

16

The CFL Should Waist there Time and Money.
The CFL Should Go after Quebec City and Victora BC.

17

oh gawd!!
Do we have to go through this again!
The CFL doesn't go AFTER cities, and the CFL doesn't spend money on cities!!! A group in a city will propose an expansion team after spending a lot of time money.

Quebec doesn't have a stadium or a group - Victoria is far too small and full of retirees.

Ottawa has close to 1 million people - a great stadium, great fans, the highest per capita income in Canada, a proven sports town.

18

Ottawa - Great fans, great history. The only logical place for a franchise right now.

Almost every team has teetered on the brink at one time or another, Hamilton certainly has, and to say that Ottawa fans don't deserve a team, as I've often read here is extremely arrogant. How soon we forget.

19

I have sort of mixed feelings about Ottawa as a CFL market. My Dad always said it was the worst group of fans in the league, not even supporting the Russ Jackson teams. But they did sell well when the Renegades came back.

Reality is, like us before the Caretaker, ownership s###ed...and it looks like that might change. Jeff Hunt, who runs the BEST junior hockey franchise in Canada looks to be involved again, and there are three SOLID Ottawa money people involved--like our Bob.

[url=http://slam.canoe.ca/Slam/Football/CFL/Ottawa/2007/09/27/4530620-sun.html]http://slam.canoe.ca/Slam/Football/CFL/ ... 0-sun.html[/url]

Quietly optimistic...nice to see the old CFL structure back to build on -- GO ROUGH RIDERS!

20

Well said!! I think every CFL team has come perilously close to shutting down only to be saved at the 11th hour by telethons, lotteries, US owners, new local owners, etc. The league needs Ottawa as much as it needs any other city. Expansion for the foreseeable future is a pipe dream so I hope that they at least bring Ottawa back.

An Argo-Cat fan