News Article: Ottawa Senators Organization Actively Considering Building Arena At Lebreton Flats

[jason2020]

Also Bettman will do everything in his power to keep the Senators where they are. Atlanta only moved because there was no intererst with ownership given the cluster**** of that whole situation. With a new arena attached to the Senators soon, i find it highly unlikely that there wouldn't be interested potential owners.

It would concern Gary if Ottawa did move would one of the weaker supported teams be interested in Ottawa it could be a nightmare for the league.

 

[Erik Alfredsson]

I think Ottawa has proven itself to be a hockey market, there are many other teams the NHL would relocate before Ottawa.

 

[Knave]

The chance he does not get a rink are slim to none while talk in San Diego most said chance of a new stadium were not likely.

The Sens likely stick around even without a LeBreton arena. Sure it hurts the value of the team but it's survived for over 2 decades now out in Kanata (and the area has built up a lot).

It would really suck to see Lebreton Flats development get stalled again though. Because if the arena gets stopped it means the whole thing is on hold and it's a giant wasteland for even longer.

 

[DrunkUncleDenis]

It would concern Gary if Ottawa did move would one of the weaker supported teams be interested in Ottawa it could be a nightmare for the league.

I don't understand what you're trying to say.

 

[jason2020]

I don't understand what you're trying to say.

If Ottawa moves the city might be appealing to another teams such as Carolina.

 

[DrunkUncleDenis]

If Ottawa moves the city might be appealing to another teams such as Carolina.

Oh I see. haha the optics of that would be so bad.

 

[hawthy]

Senators attendance issues this season have been a big interest to me (as I'm sure they have to most of you), so here's my take:

I think the entirety of the issue has been stated in bits and pieces. Let's take myself as an example (the only "for sure" thing I can state): I am a huge Sens fan and a huge Ottawa CFL fan. I have held REDBLACKS season tickets since year 1. Up until this season, I have, on average, attended maybe 8-10 Sens games per season (2 tickets per game). This past CFL season, in addition to my regular seats, I took in a REDBLACKS game in Montreal and was fortunate enough to be at BMO to see the big game in November (2 tickets/game). That alone accounts for a good chunk of my entertainment dollars that would likely have otherwise gone to Uncle Euge. On top of that, Ottawa is hosting the Grey Cup next season, which for me, is ANOTHER $880.00 to retain my seats for that game. You see where I'm going....

What has happened to the Sens this season I believe has to do with stagnation and temporary market saturation. If money was no factor, I'd be a Sens season ticket holder without question. As it stands, I (like most people) have to pick and choose where I want to spend my entertainment dollars. While there are likely a lot of REDBLACKS ticket supporters who don't frequently - financially - support the Sens....that blue-collar football crowd (directly linked to ticket pricing on average), there are likely more people ("Sens" fans) who, before this season, could and would support both, as was my case. With the money I have chosen to spend on football season tickets, going to Grey Cups, road games, etc., I no longer have those dollars for the Sens. It's not because I don't care to go to Sens games, it's because as long as I choose football, I can't choose hockey (as frequently). This is the small-market saturation of the sports scene I'm talking about. In bigger cities, or as ours continues to grow, the problem decreases as there are more people to gobble up tickets across the board.

....The stagnation, I believe, has been touched on already. I love the Sens and I love going to games, but they are getting thoroughly throttled by the REDBLACKS in terms of their individual experiences. Coming from someone who lives in Kanata, the Sens need to get the hell out of there ASAP. People are getting a taste for what a game day experience actually is with the REDBLACKS basically writing the book on it, and aside from a rock solid playoff atmosphere at CTC when the Sens qualify, the Sens haven't offered that with any consistency, ever (and no, not every game should be a playoff atmosphere). Yes, I realize the football schedule is much smaller and not all the comparables are apples-to-apples in nature, but the game day experiences and hype are night-and-day. Granted, it is much easier to win championships in a 9 team league vs a 30 team league, but the reality here is that in 3 short seasons, the REDBLACKS have built a brand, become competitive, invested in personel, made back-to-back Grey Cup appearances and won a championship. The Sens, both here in the community and abroad, have the reputation for being cheap, middling, sort of a "too good to be bad, too bad to be good" organization. I do agree, as well, with whoever said some people are now just waiting out the move downtown. The fact is, the Sens aren't the only ticket in town anymore and regardless of the differing scales the NHL and CFL operate on, I believe currently, more people are choosing the REDBLACKS. I'm no marketing expert, but that's the way I see it.

Ottawa is a rapidly growing city and the Sens are entering that "third generation fan" territory and coupled with a move downtown, I do believe the Sens are on solid footing in terms of a continued long-term presence in Ottawa. I guess it's just been a perfect storm, so to speak, of suburb stagnation, poor marketing, a rival for entertainment dollars and being thoroughly average for too long. For me, the only reason I've been less present for Sens home games this season has everything to do with the REDBLACKS and for what it's worth, I consider myself a Sens fan first. The stagnation of the Senators I think has been highlighted, as I said, because they are not the only ticket in town. That's not a good equation in a small market,

I can't say for certain anything else beyond that (the government pay issues, for example, as I do not work for the government), but I'm sure there are other factors. I'm not sure if any other REDBLACKS supporters find themselves in the same situation, but in conclusion, I think there is just too much excitement and interest in the REDBLACKS that has taken away and/or highlighted the lack of those things for the Sens.

Things are cyclical, however. Sorry for the long-winded and perhaps a bit scattered reply. Cheers.

 

[DrunkUncleDenis]

^thanks for the excellent post.

 

[jason2020]

hawthy

If the Sens were downtown now with a Landsdown type set up I doubt we would be talking about attendance issues.

 

[Wallet Inspector]

hawthy

If the Sens were downtown now with a Landsdown type set up I doubt we would be talking about attendance issues.

This, seriously.

Families make up big portion of hockey attendees, and ain't nobody want to drive up to Kanata in Ottawa winter road conditions.

Honestly it was a moronic idea to put a hockey arena in Kanata in the first place.

 

[hawthy]

I don't disagree with either of you. A central arena has proven benefits to a team's ticket sales. I'm not disputing that and in fact pointed out that the team needs to get out of the west end.

My post was speaking to the temporary direction this thread seemed to take pertaining to the significant decrease in attendance THIS SEASON so far. It's been a general consensus for a while that the Sens are better suited in a central venue, but that doesn't necessarily speak to the very real attendance issues the team has had through 3-months specific to this season. So yes, no argument that long-term, downtown is the solution. Short term, did thousands more fans worth of potential ticket buyers develop this feeling this season? I would say no and that something else is at play.

Since I have represented an a** in a seat for Sens games (two a**es actually) x 10 or so games for many seasons past, I think I am a fraction of the demographic responsible for the declining attendance, so I'm explaining why. I highly doubt I'm the only one.

Explaining this season's attendance issues specifically and solely by blaming the arena location doesn't really align, since the arena location has been an issue for a long time now (again, unless you think that many more people all decided it was an issue for them, only beginning this season, to the tune of 3,000 fewer bums in seats).

I do believe it has to do with stagnation as we can all agree, but what has happened this year that has fewer people turning out for a game? For me, it's the REDBLACKS.

 

[DuckedUpOnQuack]

This, seriously.

Families make up big portion of hockey attendees, and ain't nobody want to drive up to Kanata in Ottawa winter road conditions.

Honestly it was a moronic idea to put a hockey arena in Kanata in the first place.

Other factors aside, back then Kanata wasn't the worst idea anybody could have had. There was rapidly growing tech sector = corporate sponsorship money and a good place to wine and dine potential clients. There was also a lot of new housing starts so everything pointed to that area becoming the new centre of gravity in the region.

If tech didn't bottom out I'm not sure we'd be talking about relocation to the downtown core so aggressively. I still think downtown would have been the better idea in the first place, but there was a case to be made.

 

[jason2020]

Other factors aside, back then Kanata wasn't the worst idea anybody could have had. There was rapidly growing tech sector = corporate sponsorship money and a good place to wine and dine potential clients. There was also a lot of new housing starts so everything pointed to that area becoming the new centre of gravity in the region.

If tech didn't bottom out I'm not sure we'd be talking about relocation to the downtown core so aggressively. I still think downtown would have been the better idea in the first place, but there was a case to be made.

Kanata area are still booming like crazy.

 

[BankStreetParade]

The one thing that gets overlooked is that in the 20+ years the franchise has been out there public transportation has had exactly *zero* upgrades. If there was reliable mass transportation from one end of the city through to the other the whole idea of arena location wouldn't even really be that big of a deal. It would be more ideal to have it downtown but being in Kanata wouldn't be as major a barrier to attendance. But the only public transportation in Ottawa to this day is the bus and that's simply not good enough for a major city and certainly not good enough when it comes to the matters of moving masses from one area to another in short windows of time.

The politicians at all 3 levels have failed the Ottawa area and the Ottawa Senators on that front. Totally inept governance.

 

[Knave]

The one thing that gets overlooked is that in the 20+ years the franchise has been out there public transportation has had exactly *zero* upgrades. If there was reliable mass transportation from one end of the city through to the other the whole idea of arena location wouldn't even really be that big of a deal. It would be more ideal to have it downtown but being in Kanata wouldn't be as major a barrier to attendance. But the only public transportation in Ottawa to this day is the bus and that's simply not good enough for a major city and certainly not good enough when it comes to the matters of moving masses from one area to another in short windows of time.

The politicians at all 3 levels have failed the Ottawa area and the Ottawa Senators on that front. Totally inept governance.

Last time I took public transit to a Sens game it was a mad dash for the buses after the game and they were packed full.

Anyone taken it more recently (not years ago)? How's the service?

 

[danielpalfredsson]

Last time I took public transit to a Sens game it was a mad dash for the buses after the game and they were packed full.

Anyone taken it more recently (not years ago)? How's the service?

It depends which bus you take. There are a few different ones (401/402/etc) that go to different transit stations.

If you take the one that goes downtown and then to Hurdman, that one is always packed. Some of the other ones like the ones going to South Keys/Billings aren't always as full.

Regardless, the busses apparently wait 20 minutes after the game ends, so its fair to say that if you don't want to miss your bus you have to rush out.

If you live downtown or beyond, it is a 40 minute bus ride minimum.

 

[jbeck5]

Other factors aside, back then Kanata wasn't the worst idea anybody could have had. There was rapidly growing tech sector = corporate sponsorship money and a good place to wine and dine potential clients. There was also a lot of new housing starts so everything pointed to that area becoming the new centre of gravity in the region.

If tech didn't bottom out I'm not sure we'd be talking about relocation to the downtown core so aggressively. I still think downtown would have been the better idea in the first place, but there was a case to be made.

Speaking of high tech, where did it all go? We were called canada's silicone valley.

There is more money than ever in high tech with all these billionaire softwear and hardwear companies, websites, aps, etc. High tech is booming around the world...millionaires and billionaires popping up everywhere due to high tech...what happened to it in ottawa?

I have a couple friends that easily got jobs doing coding for a small high tech company but it's located in the east end.

 

[jbeck5]

Kanata area are still booming like crazy.

All of ottawa is booming. Go to orleans and its growing rapidly in every direction. A decade ago there was nothing south of innes now there miles of stores, dozens of schools, and thousands of homes.

Go south, its development after development. Go west of aylmer. More developments. Go east of gatineau, more neighbourhoods and suburbs being built.

 

[jbeck5]

The one thing that gets overlooked is that in the 20+ years the franchise has been out there public transportation has had exactly *zero* upgrades. If there was reliable mass transportation from one end of the city through to the other the whole idea of arena location wouldn't even really be that big of a deal. It would be more ideal to have it downtown but being in Kanata wouldn't be as major a barrier to attendance. But the only public transportation in Ottawa to this day is the bus and that's simply not good enough for a major city and certainly not good enough when it comes to the matters of moving masses from one area to another in short windows of time.

The politicians at all 3 levels have failed the Ottawa area and the Ottawa Senators on that front. Totally inept governance.

Not only have they not have upgrades. Theyve had cuts. I used to bus everywhere in the early 2000s as a preteen and teen. Every few months or after a year i have to take a bus again and theres always less and less busses, less and less routes, the routes serve less and less. The way modern cities work is to try to make everything close so you dont need to use a car,and can walk, or bus. Ottawa is going in the opposite direction.

 

[DrEasy]

I wonder if the Blue Jays' recent success contributed to the stagnation as well.

 

[Rals]

Jesus, that would be the biggest museum in Canada, haha.

Why would anyone go to a museum in kanata. The museum of ****** city planning?

 

[jason2020]

Why would anyone go to a museum in kanata. The museum of ****** city planning?

Not really the city's fault.

 

[DrunkUncleDenis]

Why would anyone go to a museum in kanata. The museum of ****** city planning?

Kids. Thousands and thousands of kids.

All of ottawa is booming. Go to orleans and its growing rapidly in every direction. A decade ago there was nothing south of innes now there miles of stores, dozens of schools, and thousands of homes.

Go south, its development after development. Go west of aylmer. More developments. Go east of gatineau, more neighbourhoods and suburbs being built.

Orleans has to be careful though, they grew too fast at one point. My buddy bought a house out there 5 years ago in a brand new development, and his property value has gone down by 30k since.

 

[jason2020]

Kids. Thousands and thousands of kids.



Orleans has to be careful though, they grew too fast at one point. My buddy bought a house out there 5 years ago in a brand new development, and his property value has gone down by 30k since.

Dnd moving to the west end could be a blow to Orleans.

 

[Pierre from Orleans]

Kids. Thousands and thousands of kids.



Orleans has to be careful though, they grew too fast at one point. My buddy bought a house out there 5 years ago in a brand new development, and his property value has gone down by 30k since.

If anywhere is booming in Ottawa it's Barrhaven