OSEG boss gutted by `worst day of my career'

Several months ago, in the infancy of the COVID-19 outbreak, Mark Goudie read The Hammer and the Dance, writer/engineer/ businessman Tomas Pueyo's discussion of a phased approach to manoeuvring through the pandemic.

It struck home then. It strikes home now. Most of what Pueyo laid out has come to pass. And nearly seven months into a pandemic that has turned our world upside down, Goudie, chief executive of Ottawa Sports and Entertainment Group — the parent company of both the Ottawa Redblacks and Ottawa 67's — is dealing with the harsh realities.

On Tuesday and Wednesday, Goudie had to deal with the financial blow dealt by the pandemic, telling 40 per cent of his business operations employees they were being let go. Sixty workers remain, with 30 more from the Redblacks and 67's. It was a tough day for Goudie and OSEG — an organization that, at its core, is all about teamwork.

“It was the worst day in my career without a doubt,” Goudie said Thursday, soon after a Zoom meeting with remaining staff. “As a management group, we've been carrying that bag around for a couple of weeks, working toward a day we knew would be inevitable, but trying to make that day respectful and honouring the values we think are important in terms of how we treat people.

“It was a lot of fun building an organization — growing from a dozen people (in 2013) to 110 business operations people plus our two teams, creating the culture you want. You have people who are excited to come to work, people with a can-do attitude. People work in sports because they love sports. They like the dynamic nature of sports and being around an environment that's on fire. There are lots of long hours. Telling people who've done nothing but their best for you for a number of years is gut-wrenching.

“I'm in a pretty good place where I think I've got the support of ownership. I've kept them abreast of what we were facing, the challenges we had in front of us and my point of view on everything COVID- and TD Place closure-related through the past six months. They generally let me make the decisions I feel are in the best interest of OSEG. This was my recommendation.”

It has been anything but easy for OSEG the past several months — with the cancellation of a chunk of the Ottawa 67's Ontario Hockey League schedule, plus missed playoff revenue with the team expected to be a strong contender for the Memorial Cup. Then the CFL season was wiped out.

OSEG would also have generated revenue from a couple of tenants — Atletico Ottawa (Canadian Premier League) and the Ottawa BlackJacks (Canadian Elite Basketball League). Add in concerts and other events and the losses are substantial.

The OSEG organization will push ahead, readying itself for a day when the arena and stadium can welcome back teams, where it can host events.

“We've got plenty of people to do what we need to do going forward,” said Goudie. “What we're missing is scale. So we can't have weeks where we have 10 or 13 events, we don't have that capacity.”

As heartbreaking as it was to let go of so many, Goudie is hopeful some will return. Instead of immediately locking everybody out of the system, those departing had access to their emails and computers through their final day. Co-workers and former co-workers could communicate.

“Unfortunately, in my career, I've been part of these days a couple of times,” said Goudie. “Usually you can feel an anger, I didn't feel that (Wednesday). I think there are a lot of people who would love to come back if the opportunity is there to do so down the road.”