The CFL Will Return To Ottawa

The CFL can breathe easier today about its expansion plans to Ottawa because the city council finally approved the Lansdowne Live Project by a vote of 15-9 on Nov. 17.

The $250 million project will call for Frank Clair Stadium to be refurbished at a cost of $120 million.  It will seat 25,000 and can be expanded to 50,000 when occasion warrants.

There was some talk that the deal would fall through and the four Ottawa businessmen who were behind the project would be stuck with a granted franchise at a $7 million fee with no stadium to play in, but now plans can go forward to get Ottawa back in the CFL.

Most of the opposition centred around handing over public land to private investors and the debt problem.  Only $150 million is being put up by the four businessmen.

But the fact there is going to be an Ottawa team in the league again is a relief for the CFL.  Not having a team in Ottawa, Canada's fourth largest city was like the NFL not having a team in Detroit, Houston, Philadelphia, or San Francisco.

What is confusing is when the new team will be up and running.  The official Lansdowne Live website mentions that the new team won't be starting until the project is completed in 2013, a wait of four years. 

Does the CFL want to wait that long?

Most fans of the CFL and probably the CFL powers-that-be would like to see a team playing before that.  The official CFL website has a page with a brief two-paragraph bulletin about next year's regular season game in Moncton, but nothing about the Ottawa situation.

Again, this episode exposes the sad state of the CFL's status.  The four owners were granted a provisional franchise back in March, 2008.  It's taken this long for the vote to come to the council, amidst the opposition noted above.

When the outcry over lost NFL teams like Houston, and Cleveland is compared to what is going on in Ottawa, the response is very feeble.

This is what happens when past owners do not field a competitive team for over a quarter of a century.

The other good news is that the owners are not the Gliebermans, who are distrusted by Ottawa's football fans.  The big question now is will the new owners be better.

The heat will be on to get this team competitive as quickly as possible.  The damage of a quarter century of bad football has to be repaired.  The CFL would be well-advised to make the expansion draft as generous as possible, and a competent general manager with CFL experience is a must.

So the CFL will return to Ottawa.  The question now is when.

(Note:  To get more information, check out the Lansdowne Live website)