Ottawa Charge fans are expressing mixed reactions about the team’s possible move to the city’s west end as talks between the PWHL and the Ottawa Senators could result in the Charge playing home games at the
Canadian Tire Centre
in upcoming seasons.
While some fans are celebrating the move to a larger arena as a way for the Charge to support a growing fanbase, others are concerned that attendance may take a hit due to the arena’s location in Kanata.
The Senators confirmed this past week that they were in discussions with PWHL officials about a lease agreement for the club to play at the Canadian Tire Centre.
“We can confirm we’ve had positive dialogue with the PWHL and the Ottawa Charge, which is consistent with our desire to grow the game for women, men and youth in our Ottawa-Gatineau community,” the National Hockey League club wrote in a statement.
PWHL officials have said the
Charge will not play
at the new Lansdowne 2.0 arena
approved by city council in October
, which would reduce the home crowd capacity by more than 2,000 to about 6,500.
At the time, Amy Scheer, vice-president of business operations for the PWHL, told the Ottawa Citizen that “every option is on the table” for alternate venue options, and she didn’t rule out moving the Charge out of the city entirely.
“We chose Ottawa for a reason, and the fans have been wonderfully supportive of us there, and we’d like to find a solution that works for us to
stay in Ottawa
,” Scheer said in October.
Canadian Tire Centre may allow room for Charge to grow
For Charge season-ticket holder Pat Farley, news of discussions between the PWHL and the Senators came as a sign that the Charge would likely stay in the city.
“I was a bit worried that the Ottawa Charge was potentially leaving Ottawa because we know they’re not staying downtown,” Farley said. “I was glad to see there’s actually movement and there’s potential.”
While Farley lives in Ottawa’s east end, he said a relocation to the 17,000-seat Canadian Tire Centre wouldn’t deter him from renewing his PWHL season tickets and attending each home game. He said he was confident many members of the devoted Charge fanbase would do the same.
“We need room to grow, and the Canadian Tire Centre is a perfect spot for that,” he said. “The fanbase and the people will follow no matter what, and we’ve proven that tons of times.”
The Charge has attracted an average of 7,280 fans across eight games at TD Place so far this season, with attendance for weekend contests averaging above 8,000 fans.
If a deal is completed for the Charge to move to Kanata, it’s also expected that the PWHL team would become a tenant at the Senators’
new home at LeBreton Flats
.
But that move is at least five years away. The Senators and the National Capital Commission are still trying to
finalize the sale
of those 11 acres of land, plus completing
plans for the new event centre
.
Commute to west-end Ottawa could be a deterrent, though
Even if the Canadian Tire Centre would only be a short-term home for the Charge, some aren’t as convinced as Farley that others will be willing to consistently make the trip to Kanata.
Tammy Dopson, also a season-ticket holder, said she worried the move would result in “a rapid drop-off in fanbase because people won’t make the trek.”
“My greatest concern is that it’s going to create a barrier to access because of transportation for a lot of the current PWHL ticket holders,” she said.
While Ottawa’s public transportation network includes 400-series buses that transport fans to and from the Canadian Tire Centre on event nights, that trip can take over an hour for people commuting from the east end.
For Débora Rodrigues, attending weeknight Charge games in Kanata would likely be out of the question.
“The site is a pain to get to, so my fingers are crossed that the league can maintain its audience share out there and that it can grow it,” she said.
Lansdowne’s major draws for Charge fans including the many restaurants and social spaces within walking distance of TD Place. Rodrigues said that atmosphere led to “accidental hangouts” with other fans in the area, which she feared would be lost if the club relocated to Kanata.
“It’s like a desert out (in Kanata),” she said. “You have to have a car to go hang out at a restaurant. There are no accidental hangouts with the fan base at all.”
For Charge fan Lyne Vincent, a move to Kanata would be a dealbreaker on renewing season tickets.
“It’s the distance, the traffic to get to weekday games, the parking is really hard to get in and out of and there’s just nothing around,” she said. “It’s just not the same feeling as having a team downtown that people walk to.”
If the Charge eventually relocated back downtown, Vincent said she’d consider renewing her season tickets then, but she was not holding out hope that such a move would happen anytime soon.
“They don’t have a shovel in the ground yet (at LeBreton Flats) … I don’t see this being in the near future for Charge fans,” she said.
What comes next for the Charge?
The Charge will test the
appeal of Canadian Tire Centre
for its fanbase with an April 4 home game there against the Montreal Victoire.
On Friday, Senators president Cyril Leeder told reporters tickets for the game were already “selling really well.”
“We’re hoping to have a big crowd, maybe a record crowd for a women’s game in Ottawa, so we’re hoping that’ll be the model there,” he said. “That was already in the works before we started talking about something more permanent.”
More than 11,000 fans were in attendance the last time the Charge played at the Canadian Tire Centre on Dec. 6, 2024, losing 2-1 to the Victoire.
While the Charge is in its final year of a three-year lease at TD Place, neither the PWHL nor the Senators have indicated a timeline as to when a prospective deal may be reached.
With files from Bruce Garrioch
Related
Our website is your destination for up-to-the-minute news, so make sure to bookmark our homepage and sign up for our newsletters so we can keep you informed.
