The CFL plagued by attendance woes and flagging interest? Not so in Ottawa, where Redblacks fever is still running high ... Smilin’ Hank recalls first brush with classic Canadian cuisine ... Stamps add Whiteside
When Jeff Hunt talks about the success — on and off the field, of the Ottawa Redblacks — he speaks about being “the envy of the CFL,” with the league’s youngest fan base.
It’s remarkable, really. Two franchises — the Rough Riders and Renegades — had come and gone before the Redblacks joined the league in 2014, and skeptics had just cause to believe the city would never properly support the CFL.
But here we are, sellout after sellout, 13-straight games in the 25,000-ticket range. With a vibrant community of bars, restaurants, retail stores, a theatre and a gym surrounding TD Place Stadium, football is not only alive and well, it’s a focus of the Ottawa sports scene.
“I can’t remember the last time we didn’t have a sellout,” said Hunt, president of sports for the Ottawa Sports and Entertainment Group. “It feels like we’ve sold out every game, besides exhibition, since we’ve been back. In my mind, over 24,000 is a sellout. If it isn’t every single seat sold, it certainly has a sellout feel, look and atmosphere.”
It’s the diversity of age and gender among the fan base that has pushed this thing to new heights, with going-on 18,000 season tickets sold. Baby Boomers, Generation X, Generation Y, Generation Z ... look around the stands on game night, they’re all there. No question, though, the young demographic has injected energy.
“I did a focus group with young fans in their 20s who had really very little awareness of the CFL,” said Hunt. “I said to them, ‘My fear is you’ve become NFL fans now and you’ve become like the lost generation.’ I’ll never forget the answer a couple of them gave. ‘Yeah, we’re NFL fans, but there’s no NFL team in Ottawa. To watch a live football game, we can do that now.’ A lot of the young fans didn’t have that ‘The CFL is My Dad’s League mentality.’”
“The crowd’s gotten younger,” said Dennis
Prouse, coach of the minor football team North Gloucester Giants, who grew up in Vancouver. “It’s a thing for millennials to do in Ottawa, whereas you look around the rest of the league and it’s a huge battle for them. It all comes with the atmosphere and the vibe around the stadium making it a whole experience. What has been done on this (Lansdowne) site is really exciting. Eventually the Senators will have to thank them because that’s the model for what they’re looking to do at LeBreton Flats — create that kind of atmosphere.
“I’m a diehard. But they can’t live off just diehards. They have to get those elusive casual fans. When you’ve got so much competition for the entertainment dollar, if people don’t get that great experience, they’re not going.”
There’s a strong social aspect to Redblacks games. One of the stadium’s features is what Hunt calls “the longest continuous drink rail in probably Canada.”
“Young fans today are not as inclined to just sit in a chair and watch a game for three hours,” Hunt said. “They want to come in groups and interact and I think the design of TD Place really facilitates that.” Andrea Van Dette,