Scheer, Hefford Address Ottawa Council Hoping For Better Arena Deal

Members of the PWHL's leadership group, Amy Scheer and Jayna Hefford, were at the City of Ottawa's most recent council meeting, a special meeting designed to discuss plans for Lansdowne 2.0. Those plans include a new, albeit smaller arena that would potentially serve as the future home of the PWHL's Ottawa Charge.

It's only the potential future home because the PWHL has been unable to reach a lease agreement with OSEG who operate the facility, and the league does not believe plans for the new arena are viable for the league or team.

The proposed arena plan would see seated capacity reduced by roughly 3,000 people, a plan the PWHL does not feel supports Ottawa's fan base, or the financial viability of the team.

According to Amy Scheer, the PWHL's executive director of business operations, the league has been negotiating, in what they believed was "good faith" on a new lease with the Ontario Sports and Entertainment Group who operate TD Place Arena in partnership with the City of Ottawa. As Scheer made clear to councillors and Ottawa's Mayor Mark Sutcliffe however, is that no deal on a new lease could get done, as OSEG's current offer, coupled with the team losing thousands of fans per game, would result in an estimated $1 million in loss for the Charge per season.

"There's still not enough seats, that impacts the entire business, for it to be profitable, it's just not," said Scheer while addressing council. "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 PWHL, similarly, has no plans to relocate the Ottawa Charge to the Canadian Tire Centre, home of the NHL's Ottawa Senators. Scheer boasted about the Charge's strong attendance, which she believed would be even stronger if the Charge were prioritized and given more weekend games at TD Place Arena. 

Scheer also stated that the PWHL would prefer to stay at the current building than move to a new, smaller arena. The current TD Place Arena is aging, and was criticized in a council delegation by former Charge defender Jincy Roese who left Ottawa at her first opportunity this offseason. Roese stated the arena had safety issues, including ice conditions. PWHL executive vice president of hockey operations Jayna Heffod acknowledged the need for repairs at the current facility, but stated the strength of Ottawa is in the fans, and how the crowd supports the players.

"Ottawa is one of the best players to watch a PWHL game, when it is full it is loud, the fans are crazy, it's an incredible environment, and that's what our players love about Ottawa," said Hefford. "Yes, they'd love to see the improvements, but they also love to have 8500+ fans."

One of the discussion points that was raised multiple times throughout the meeting was the issue of capacity. While the City of Ottawa and OSEG report a new arena in Ottawa would have a capacity of 6,600, Scheer stated that capacity isn't the number the PWHL is focusing on. The league is looking only at the number of seated fans, which would be 5,500, compared to close to 8,500 currently. The rationale was behind accessibility for mature fans, those with mobility issues, and families, as well as acknowledgement that "standing room" would be two people deep in the new plans.

A smaller arena, according to Scheer and councillors discussing the issue, would also result in a significant increase in ticket prices in Ottawa to move the team toward profitability. 

Scheer said, as representatives of the PWHL, they were in Ottawa with "open minds and open hearts and willing to have any discussion that again is in the best interest of Ottawa..." Scheer and the PWHL expressed concern over the lack of consultation with the league and team, and the fact that the finalized plans were released with only days before a vote was slated to occur. 

Ottawa council and mayor Mark Sutcliffe grilled Scheer regarding the league's needs, the viability of women's professional sports, attendance figures and whether or not capacity had always been a consideration (and if the league could prove capacity had always been a concern), and the needs of the PWHL to consider the new arena plan a viable option.

Scheer advocated for the PWHL to have a "seat at the table" when it comes to the design of the Lansdowne 2.0 arena, and called out Mayor Mark Sutcliffe for "very black and white" explanations when negotiations are much more "nuanced" than what's being presented. Sutcliffe also brought up the fact that the PWHL could not explicitly commit to anything beyond the scope of the league's current collective bargaining agreement, which expires in 2031. 

Sutcliffe suggested that the Ottawa Charge "are likely going to be playing in a different arena someday anyway" if the fan base continues to grow beyond current capacities as the league hopes. 

Scheer replied to that comment saying "if we're getting 13, 000 fans a game, god willing, I'll be the happiest person in the world, because it's great for women's sports."

"We're not here to be antagonistic," said Scheer. "We're here... to set the record straight and we want to find a solution....we're invested in being here, we want to be here, we love this city."

The final vote to either move forward with the current Lansdowne 2.0 plans, or to go back to the drawing board is set to take place November 7, the same day PWHL teams open training camps.