City Of Ottawa Thinks Big, Fails Big: GRAY

The City of Ottawa and its Lansdowne partner Ottawa Sports and Entertainment Group look like they have lost an outstanding tenant.

The Ottawa Charge in two playoff games at the Canadian Tire Centre last weekend drew about 24,000 fans. The new event centre at Lansdowne, not yet built but planned, will hold 6,600 fans. It’s too small for the PWHL Charge. How did the Lansdowne partners botch this?

The city and OSEG told the Charge the team would be accommodated at the new event centre. That simply wasn’t the case. The two partners were told the event centre was too small for the Charge and yet the current size went forward anyway. Then Mayor Mark Sutcliffe came forward with a feeble excuse that why should the partners support an American owner?