The Ottawa Charge, the city’s professional women’s hockey team, says its move to the Canadian Tire Centre this fall could open up new business and revenue opportunities as the club settles into a much larger home arena.
The team announced this summer that it would leave TD Place Arena for the Canadian Tire Centre, which has a capacity of about 18,500. Erin Thompson, director of business operations for the Ottawa Charge, said the transition has required the team to build relationships with a much larger roster of staff within the Ottawa Senators’ organization and the arena’s operations compared with TD Place.
Thompson said the larger venue gives the Charge access to premium spaces such as hosting suites that weren’t available at TD Place, which she said creates new opportunities as the team works to reach a broader fan base ahead of the season, which is about two months away.
Addressing Fan Concerns on Access and Pricing
When the move was announced, some fans expressed concern that the Canadian Tire Centre’s location in the west end would make games harder to reach, which Thompson said affected early ticket sales. She said that concern has been easing, noting the Charge play a 15-game schedule rather than the more frequent schedule associated with men’s professional hockey. The team is working on a transportation plan for fans, including use of 400-series buses, and plans to introduce flex ticket packages that let fans choose which games to attend.
Fans also worried that moving into a bigger arena would drive ticket prices higher. Thompson said the team intentionally kept price increases incremental and in line with past years, describing Ottawa as a price-sensitive market where discouraging fans from attending games was not the goal.
Advertising and Business Partnerships
Thompson said the move has attracted interest from prospective advertising partners, pointing to the greater amount of LED and rink-board advertising space available inside an NHL-style arena compared with TD Place. While most partnerships are negotiated at the league level, she said the Charge has some capacity for local partnership deals and is open to pursuing that business.
Because the Charge and the Senators share the Canadian Tire Centre from December through May, Thompson said some advertising, including rink boards, will need to be swapped between games, though the two organizations will share some partners. She said the use of LED signage makes it easier to adjust building signage for Charge games as the team looks to further establish its presence in the arena.
Deeper Engagement With Local Business Community
Thompson said the team has also stepped up outreach to Ottawa’s business community since the move, engaging with business improvement areas and various business and women’s groups in more depth than it had at TD Place. She said the larger venue allows the Charge to host community organizations and businesses at theme nights, such as Unity nights, in ways that weren’t previously possible.
Overall, Thompson said the move to the bigger arena creates more opportunities for the Charge to connect with fans, advertisers and the broader business community as the team enters its fourth season.
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