Have you ever read the book “Turnover: The Fumbling of the Ottawa Rough Riders”, Steve? If not, give it a try, you’d love it.
There’s a point where, even when you know full well what’s going to happen in just a few years, it’s difficult to believe that it all went to pot the way it did. It took an awful lot of idiocy and bad fortune to kill that franchise.
The nice thing too, as you know, is that the team could still lose money and have appeal to OSEG as an draw for retailers. And their “guaranteed” period was quietly extended to eight years during the tail end of negotiations with the city. If things go according to plan, all those already predicting that the club won’t last three years can prepare to be proven wrong.
With 5,000 season tickets sold a year before they kick off i think thats a very solid sign that fans will support this team i could see them like Montreal when they came back a huge demand for ticckets.
What we have to remember is the formula for attendance numbers to make a franchise number are going down each year. We tend to just look at the TV money which is definitely great but also league and team sponsors. As mentioned with all of the retail and sports Bars/restuarants in the newly renovated area will be shelling out some big bucks to sponsor the teams and have there sponsor names running across the modern electronic strips that will be surrounding the stadiums that will be seen by some 700K viewers per game that watch every regular season CFL game in which all games are now on National TV.
These modern sports revenue streams were not even there with this much force even when the Renegades of a decade ago.
Lets not forget the OSEG's modern Synergy business model in which all teams are marketed together streamlining costs of front office employ's and promoting each of their teams at all of the game events Hockey, soccer, football
I’m with you. I don’t think it grows on anyone, they just get used to it. If you want a reminder of how ridiculous it is, think Edmonton Greengolds. It’s no different.
I know the argument that any name now will sound weird, and I actually agree with it.
Where I struggle with RedBlacks is that many call it embarassing. Names like Nationals or Capitals may be bland, but they don’t draw the type of ridicule that this one does. So it’s not just that I don’t like the name personally, it has the feel of squeezing a square peg in a round hole.
As much confidence as I have in this ownership group and Juff Hunt in particular, I do think they botched the whole name thing if RedBlacks ends up being the choice.
to be honest, if Blue Bombers, Tiger-Cats, Eskimos, Argonauts, Roughriders, and Alouettes were introduced as expansion franchise names today, the critics would be in a feeding frenzy.
and in short time, the RedBlacks will be beloved despite initial indifference by some.
as the prophetic John Lennon once said, "Give RedBlacks a chance" 8)
Those names might seem ridiculous today, but I don’t know that they seemed ridiculous at the time. If a team adopted a name that was “normal” in the early 1900’s but doesn’t seem quite as appropriate to today, people understand that.
RedBlacks is ridiculous to many now. The rest of the final five (Nationals, Rush, Voyageurs, Raftsmen) don’t exactly set my loins atingle either, but at least they’re recognizable. Not everyone will love them either, but they’re not considering embarrassing, that I know of.
I wish they’d make this decision already and be done with it. Cripes, man, it’s been ages…
Typical Ottawa 'stinkin' thinkin'!!
If the New Zealand All Blacks rugby team can have 2 million facebook likes, then I think we'll be okay in 'little old Ottawa' with Red Blacks!! Go Red Blacks Go:D
C’mon, now…I’ve been as optimistic as anyone about this entire project for years. It’s not just random negativity on my part, and I’m not predicting the death of the club as a result of this decision.
But I’m not going to be a complete shill either. I don’t like the reaction that I’m seeing to this name, I don’t think it’s a good thing, and I don’t think I’m wrong for saying so.
Watch for it: If it’s RedBlacks after all, people will question why OSEG bothered with taking submissions and focus groups at all if they’re just going to go with their stated pet name anyway.
The name Red Blacks was submitted to OSEG (by someone at the Grey Cup if I recall)… so all be equal it’s a name suggested like the others, that they (obviously) prefer… What bothers me is reading all the negative stuff on Ottawa Sun , Ottawa Citizen when I know darn well most - if not all the naysayers would never have purchased a game ticket anyways…
[b]BluesMan wrote:
What bothers me is reading all the negative stuff on Ottawa Sun , Ottawa Citizen when I know darn well most - if not all the naysayers would never have purchased a game ticket anyways.[/b]
agreed.
those who have stated they will not purchase tickets if the name is RedBlacks, or not to their liking, is beyond petty and not a fan of the game period.
Completely agree. It's like some people in Hamilton saying they are not purchasing their season tickets anymore because they didn't get the site they wanted for the new stadium. Those people would be looking for any excuse anyways at a moment's notice to not renew their seasons tickets, heck the new stadium is going on the same site as the old so saying you won't renew because you don't like the site, well what have you been doing going there in the first place. :?
I laughed at one of the comments by someone at the bottome of the Sun article. He said he cannot support the team with the name "Redblacks" and will not buy a ticket.........lol
Just another negative person that had no intention of buying a ticket. How many fans in the Anaheim area thought that giving a hockey team a Disney name was stupid or people in Columbus with the boring name Bluejackets.
There are still some fans that say they won't support the team unless they bring back the "Rough Riders" . Maybe the old traditionalists will keep complaining about the "Riders" name but I think they are gambling that the "Redblacks" will appeal to the new fans that have no memories of the rough riders.
The marketing company has probably done their homework and told them that this name is the best name to market and will become a "cool" name and fans will want to buy "Redblack" stuff.
“Red and Black” was suggested at Grey Cup. It morphed into RedBlacks at some point.
I get what you’re saying about suspicions that those who claim they wont’s support the team because of the name wouldn’t have anyway. But this is a franchise that needs to create new fans. They’re not in a position to take a “screw them” attitude.
Again, we all know the new name will not be liked by most. But this one draws a type of scorn that most of the other names under consideration did not get. I never saw anyone (in Ottawa or elsewhere) ridicule the Voyageurs option (for example) the way RedBlacks has been. I don’t know how it makes any sense to just shrug off such a negative reaction from a marketing standpoint. If you’re not going to have a name thjat the majority likes, at least have one that doesn’t make you look like a joke. You’re just giving yourself an uphill battle.
FWIW I was in Ottawa in March and did a quick and informal 20 person survey if they liked the name. Not scientific of course, just got the question in during conversations.
11-9 in favor.
I never saw scorn. But I don't live there. I presume you do?
Its the same thing with the Bluesfest when the line up came out people said people said they won’t buy ticket and they will have issues well the ticket demand has been huge my point is people say they won’t but but at the end of the day they do.
That’s a little different, Jay. Blues fans said they’d stop going to Bluesfest because there’s no blues there. The people going to Bluesfest now to see bands like Kiss or the Black Eyed Peas aren’t necessarily the people who swore off it because of a lack of blues.
Maybe the football team can do the same thing. What I’m saying is that forcing a name that many find silly just makes it harder for them to be taken seriously.
