The vote did not go the way the Ottawa Charge or PWHL had hoped when the final tally was recorded for the Lansdowne 2.0 vote. Approved by a 15-10 margin, Lansdowne 2.0 is set to move forward. The decision means the PWHL's Ottawa Charge will lose roughly 3,000 fans per game when the project is completed compared to their current home at TD Place Arena.

The decision came after consistent messaging from the PWHL that a decision to approve Lansdowne 2.0 could result in the PWHL needing to leave Ottawa, and would put the Ottawa Charge and PWHL in a position to lose an estimated $1 million per season in Ottawa.

"There's still not enough seats, that impacts the entire business, for it to be profitable, it's just not," said Scheer in a deputation to Ottawa council last month. "We've tried every single way to take what OSEG negotiated and find a way to make money with that and ultimately we couldn't."

The approved project is estimated to cost $418.8 million although many believe the real figure will be closer to $500 million when all is said and done.

The ten councillors who voted against Lansdowne 2.0 include Jessica Bradley, Riley Brockington, Sean Devine, Laine Johnson, Kavanagh, Rawlson King, Jeff Leiper, Wilson Lo, Shawn Menard, and Theresa Ariel Troster.

Earlier in the day Ottawa Mayor Mark Sutcliffe, who has been firmly in support of Lansdowne 2.0 and against the PWHL's messaging that they were not granted a seat at the table to have their needs considered in the construction of a new arena, spoke on TSN Morning acknowledging that the Charge are likely to move venues away from the new Lansdowne 2.0 facility in the future.

"There is a way forward for the Charge in Ottawa," he said. "There's a huge opportunity for them to play at that arena. They’ll continue at Lansdowne for the next two years in the current arena, they’ll move into the new arena, and/or they’ll play lots of games at the Senators arena, whether that’s in Kanata or LeBreton Flats in the future as they grow.”

Sutcliffe also stated he believed the PWHL's late stage public dissent against the capacity of the new arena was being used as leverage in their negotiation with OSEG who operates the facilities at Lansdowne 2.0.

"They're smart business people and they're using the leverage of this moment as any smart business person would to try to get the best deal they can for their business," Sutcliffe told TSN. "I respect that as a businessperson, but we're building an event centre that will have all kinds of different men's and women's sports playing in it in the future, we're not building an arena just for one team."

The Charge were discussed multiple times in pre-vote motions at today's marathon meeting, including in a pre-vote motion from councillor Isabelle Skalski hoping to advance lease negotiations with the Ottawa Charge. Those lease negotiations were stalled according to the PWHL who feared the future financial losses they'd incur due to a significantly reduced capacity.

The new seated capacity at Lansdowne 2.0's arena will be 5,500 when the Charge regularly drew more than 7,000 fans in each of their first two seasons.

Now the Charge will need to find a future path to financial stability and profitability that is unlikely to include the $418.8 million project that could not be, in the mayor and council's eyes, altered to fit the lone professional sports organization using the building. 

PWHL executive vice president's Amy Scheer and Jayna Hefford voiced their concerns that for the first time, a facility was being built too small for women's sports in order to fit the OHL's Ottawa 67s who draw roughly half the fans the Charge do on a nightly basis, and do not feature national and international broadcasting.

"For years, facilities were designed around men’s schedules and men’s teams," the duo wrote in the Citizen. "Women were told to make do. And now, just as women’s hockey has earned the right to think bigger, the city is planning to think smaller."

"For years, cities built arenas that were too big for women and just right for men. Now, the City of Ottawa is planning to build one that is too small for women, yet still perfect for men. Ottawa can change that story. Ottawa can be the city that finally built to the size of the women’s game."

While the PWHL does not want to leave Ottawa, moving the team to Kanata to play at the Canadian Tire Centre is not likely a viable long term solution as the league has struggled in out of market venues such as Bridgeport, Connecticut and Lowell, Massachusetts to draw fans and grow. The lone hope for the Charge is a future partnership in the Ottawa Charge's plan to build a new arena on LeBreton Flats near downtown. The land transfer and approvals are still underway and the Charge will still need to weather multiple seasons in a smaller or alternate venue.

Last season the Ottawa Charge played a PWHL Takeover game in Quebec City which could become a Canadian option for relocation.