Sens Owner Eugene Melnyk Got A Bad Rap

Published 07/07/2023 · Updated 07/07/2023

Credit where credit is due. The late Ottawa Senators owner Eugene Melnyk did not dig deep into the civic coffers like some other sports-franchise owners do in this town.

Melnyk got a few small municipal tax breaks but, for the most part, this city’s only major league sports team ran on its own. Melnyk was a private enterpriser who actually worked almost exclusively in the private sphere.

He also had foresight. Melnyk got a Major League Soccer franchise (a league with a big future) many years ago in his pocket, but the city and a group of high-powered developers decided to bring in the minor league CFL to Ottawa instead. That’s probably because Melnyk was not a part of the old-boys club here in Ottawa.

The amount of power and deference developers get at Ottawa City Hall makes the mind wobble.

The Auditor General Must Probe Lansdowne, Now

Melnyk was his own man, was tough and survived, for the most part, on his own resources and those of the NHL to run a real professional sports franchise. And he put his money where his mouth was. Fans criticized him for speaking the truth but he loved his team. He spent tens of millions of dollars keeping this club in Ottawa while critical fans and others didn’t buy a ticket.

The easy thing to do was sell the club and take the money and run. He stayed and it cost him.

If Lansdowne 2.0 goes forward, the rich owners of Ottawa Sports and Entertainment Group will have received close to half a billion dollars from the city for a brand new, shiny stadium and arena complex. Meanwhile, the Sens soldier on by their own smarts. On the other hand, the Lansdowne developers make money from huge real-estate high-rises on the leased city land for which the municipality just receives its usual property taxes.

Melnyk received a great deal of criticism in this town. Given that, for the most part, he didn’t get municipal money for his very expensive enterprise, maybe he was a much better man than the public gave him credit for.

Melnyk was like you and me. We work hard. We make our money. We pay out taxes. And we don’t stand around asking the city for money or legislation breaks.