OTTAWA ALL IN ON REDBLACKS
CFL games are the place to be in our nation’s capital
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” thanks to 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.”
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.
“The crowd’s gotten younger,” said Dennis Prouse, coach of the North Gloucester Giants minor football team. “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 ... 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, 30, moved to Ottawa in 2013 and became a Redblacks fan by chance.
“I would walk my dog to the dog park behind Lansdowne,” she said. “One night, we were out and I could hear this cheering. I stood there with my dog and watched about five minutes of the homeopener in 2014. I thought, ‘Wow, this is incredible.’”
The Redblacks also turned a couple of wrongs into rights. There’s attention paid to a francophone market that, for years, was ignored, and with events like an annual Women’s Night, there is inclusion.
Ottawa and Saskatchewan are the only two teams in the CFL that have seen attendance increase in each of the last three seasons.
There’s a buzz about the Redblacks in the nation’s capital. People want tickets, they want to see football. Plaid power is strong.
“This renaissance is so sweet,” Prouse said. “There was a little group of us who called ourselves Renegade Nation — we went to city council meetings and were involved in the fight right from the get-go. Those years in between losing the Renegades and not being sure this day would come, that was tough.”
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.