Ottawa Canadian Football League Team

Ottawa Canadian Football League Team

The Ottawa RedBlacks are a CFL franchise that has been awarded in the city of Ottawa, Ontario. On March 25, 2008, an ownership group led by Ottawa 67's owner Jeff Hunt was awarded the franchise. The team will play at a remodelled Frank Clair Stadium, and will begin play in 2014 if construction remains on schedule. While the franchise was conditionally awarded the right to host the 2014 Grey Cup game in 2008, Jeff Hunt has indicated that he would like to postpone the game for a few years to give his franchise a better chance to play in the championship game and, due to lawsuits and delays, the stadium renovations will not be completed until 2014. Hosting the Grey Cup is a condition included in the agreement giving Hunt control of the franchise. A C$7 million fee was reported to have been paid. The team originally planned to begin play in 2010, until cracks in the concrete structure in the south stands of Frank Clair Stadium led to the demolition of those stands; the league later set a date of 2013 for the team's debut, but lawsuits forced the delay of construction on the stadium to be pushed back even further.

This will be the third CFL team to play in the city. The Ottawa Rough Riders, formed in 1876, was a founding member of the CFL in 1958, playing until 1996. A new Ottawa franchise was formed as the Renegades in 2002, but lasted only until the end of the 2005 season. The situation of Ottawa has been compared to that of Montreal, which went nine years without a team and had its franchise fold twice before the arrival of the present Alouettes, and where ice hockey is the number one sport.