PWHL says plans for Lansdowne 2.0 arena ‘not viable for us’

The Professional Women's Hockey League (PWHL) is calling Ottawa's plans for Lansdowne Park's next arena a “huge step backwards,” warning it calls into question the financial viability of the Ottawa Charge.

Event Center offered through Lansdowne Redevelopment Plan 2.0 It will accommodate 5,850 people, according to city officials. They say adding standing room will increase capacity to 6,600 people.

The arena, built 48 years ago, currently seats approximately 9,500.

Amy Shear, the league's executive vice-president of business operations, told CBC News on Friday that capacity cuts are “a tough pill to swallow.”

“This puts our league and our team in a position where they can’t thrive,” she said.

“It's a huge step back in terms of the ability for our fans to see our team play. You know, 3,000 fewer fans per game is a significant advance… it's not a financial model that makes any sense.”

Last season, the Charge's regular season games averaged 5,775 fans on weekdays, although the goal for the upcoming season is 6,500. Their weekend games averaged 8,348.

Shear said she is confident that number will grow and that the hundreds of standing rooms on offer are no consolation for the PWHL.

“When you look at our audience, we have a very mature audience. We have a family audience,” she said. “I don’t think standing room only is an option.”

Jayna Hefford, executive vice president of hockey operations for the PWHL and a former Canadian national team player, called the situation “disappointing.”

“We've been excited about Ottawa as a market from day one,” she said.

“We've had a really warm welcome from the hockey fans. We love playing there. I tell people all the time that it's one of the best buildings in our league. The energy in that building is fantastic.”

“All options are on the table” for Charge

Scheer said the league made it “unequivocal” during negotiations with the city and the Ottawa Sports and Entertainment Group (OSEG) that capacity would be an issue and it wanted them to reconsider the proposed arena.

A league spokesman said the first such meeting took place in June 2024.

“Today we sit here in the same place we started,” Scheer said. “So do we feel heard? Probably not.”

CBC News asked whether the league would keep the Charge in Ottawa if current plans for Lansdowne 2.0 go ahead.

“The ultimate goal is to negotiate something with the city of Ottawa. We're not going to run. If we find ourselves in that position, would we consider it? Of course,” Scheer responded. “All options are on the table, but we love Ottawa. We don't want to go anywhere.”

She said the PWHL is not yet ready to “drive the car off the bridge” and sees many opportunities to solve the problem, but the proposed arena is not working.

“As our conversations today suggest, a new arena is not viable for us as a professional women's hockey league,” she added.

Scheer said PWHL plans to attend a meeting of Ottawa's finance and corporate services committee next week. which will hear delegations on the Lansdowne 2.0 plan before it goes to a final vote by the full City Council on Nov. 7.

The mayor called criticism a negotiation tactic

Ottawa Mayor Mark Sutcliffe, a strong supporter of Lansdowne 2.0, said he was surprised to hear PWHL's concerns.

“The number of seats that will be in the arena was very clear in 2023 and even earlier,” he said. “They actually delegated their support for the new arena during Lansdowne committee meetings in 2023.”

Player Jincy Rose actually showed up at the committee meetingAlthough in 2024 they talked about player conditions and changing halls, and not about capacity.

Sutcliffe called PWHL's statements to CBC News a negotiating tactic on the part of “big influential American businessmen“

The PWHL and all eight of its teams are owned by the Mark Walter Group, led by investor Mark Walter, whose net worth is $7.3 billion, according to Forbes.

“These are the people who own the LA Dodgers… they own the Formula One racing team. They know big business,” Sutcliffe said.

“I suspect this is their way of putting pressure on the negotiations they are having with OSEG about a new lease for Lansdowne Park to get the best possible deal.”

Mark Goody, CEO of OSEG, confirmed the talks in a statement to CBC. He called PWHL's comments “perplexing.”

“We have had detailed and positive discussions with the league about extending the lease of our new Events Center. From our side, the terms we offered were extremely favorable to the PWHL. Until last week, I thought we were very close to finalizing an agreement,” he said.

“We remain hopeful that we can reach a deal with the league and that we can continue to play an important role in the Ottawa Charge and the next chapter of the PWHL.”

Sutcliffe said it's a “familiar refrain” to hear professional sports teams raise the possibility of leaving the city to get a better deal, but he noted the Charge have a significant fan base in Ottawa. He said Ottawa wants them to stay.

If the team grows enough, he suggested they will eventually outgrow the 8,000-seat arena and end up at the Canadian Tire Center or new Senators arena proposed for LeBreton Flats Anyway.

He said adding 2,000 seats to the proposed Lansdowne arena would cost about $80 million to $100 million.

“If the team grows and is successful and has more money to put toward building a bigger arena, then obviously we would be open to that conversation,” the mayor said.

“I don't understand this. I don’t think they want to write us a check.”

Some fans are yearning for a bigger arena

Sutcliffe said the new Lansdowne arena would be a more modern and accessible facility that would provide an “amazing experience” for fans and players.

“We're adding all kinds of features that will benefit the PWHL team: women's locker rooms, training facilities, weight rooms,” he said.

But some Charge fans who spoke to CBC had serious reservations about the reduced seating capacity.

Jamie Jaynes, a season ticket holder and director of the East Ottawa Women's Hockey Association, told CBC that the reduction in seating “threatens to limit growth potential and limit the availability of women's professional hockey in the city.”

“If Ottawa wants to become a national leader in women's sports and city development, this is the moment to move forward, not backward,” she said in a text message exchange.

Another season ticket holder, Kaylee Kennedy, said the current arena at TD Place is “the perfect size.”

“I'm very disappointed by the reduction in the number of seats, especially because PWHL has just started and has already made incredible progress. I believe it will continue to grow,” she said.

“I am very nervous about the reduction in the number of places and it reduces the dynamics of the team.”