By: Murray McCormick – The Leader Post
Photo: Scott Grant
The Ottawa REDBLACKS are faring better off of the field than on it.
The REDBLACKS remain a popular attraction in Ottawa despite a CFLworst 2-12 record. Ottawa suffered its worst defeat of the regular season on Saturday, losing 41-3 to the host B.C. Lions. The REDBLACKS have drawn well despite their losing record.
“(Our record) doesn’t make for the greatest environment for selling tickets,” said REDBLACKS president Jeff Hunt. “I’m sure everyone would love to see us win more and we finally got another win (Oct. 3 against the Winnipeg Blue Bombers). For now, it’s a true honeymoon phase and everybody is having so much fun going to the games and to the park.”
TD Place is a cool place to be when the REDBLACKS are playing. The REDBLACKS have sold out their last seven games and still have two home games remaining in the regular season. There is a buzz around the club regardless of their record.
“It’s very rewarding and gratifying to see all of this energy and time we’ve put in is finally paying off,” said Hunt, whose REDBLACKS are sixth in CFL attendance with average crowds of 24,299. “We have a football team to watch in the summer and we have a beautiful building to watch it in. There is a real swagger in Ottawa again with everything that is happening. It’s very positive.”
It has taken seven years for the REDBLACKS to reach this stage. Back when the CFL awarded the franchise to Hunt and the ownership group, he remembers spending significant time responding to more questions about Ottawa’s checkered CFL past than the future of the franchise. The Ottawa Rough Riders folded in 1996 and the Ottawa Renegades lasted from 2002 through 2005 before that franchise was shut down.
The perception of Ottawa as a CFL city has undergone a makeover with the REDBLACKS actually on the field. The ownership group contributed to some of that by reconnecting with Ottawa football legends like Russ Jackson and Tony Gabriel.
“Nobody is talking about the dark days of Ottawa football anymore and nobody is interested in that,” Hunt said. “That’s behind us. That’s dead and in the past. People are talking about (quarterback) Henry Burris. There may be a losing streak, but they are talking about the football team today, its future and draft picks. They are talking about how beautiful TD Place is.”
Hunt talks regularly with fans and they are appreciative of the efforts to bring football back to Ottawa.
‘Committed long term’ “There’s no question that it’s a novelty,” Hunt said. “We’re still an expansion team and people know that. The Ottawa sports fans are pretty bright people. We went through it with an expansion hockey team in the NHL some years ago. There was so much excitement about having an NHL team in the community that they got a pass for a few years before they got good. Now they have to win to sell tickets. At the beginning, they didn’t and I think it’s the same for us.”
Hunt knows that the REDBLACKS will face those types of expectations in the future. He also welcomes them.
“I think people are lot more confi dent with its long-term viability,” Hunt said. “They believe in the team and that’s a big part of the fan support. They have to believe in the team. Right now with what has happened in Ottawa is they believe in ownership. I know that’s a selfserving comment, but I believe they think we’re here for the long haul.
“We’re all local guys and we have a lot at stake. We’re not the guys who blew in from the U.S. and are here today and gone tomorrow if things don’t go well. We’re committed long term.”
