The Ottawa SkyHawks are currently in the middle of their inaugural season, one that got off to a comical start even before the team played its first game.
In case you’re wondering, the SkyHawks are the city’s professional basketball team and represent the capital in the National Basketball League. Yes, Canada has a professional men’s basketball league.
First it was the naming debacle where, mere hours after being unveiled as the Ottawa TomaHawks at a press conference, they were forced to look for another moniker when people felt the team name was culturally insensitive.
And then in late November, after the seventh game of their opening season and on the back of a modest 4-3 record, their coach at the time Kevin Keathley was unceremoniously fired and replaced by former NBA player Jaren Jackson.
Since then it’s been a struggle for the SkyHawks. They languish at the bottom half of the NBL standings and attendance at home games has been a big issue.
It’s not implausible that the latter has something to do with the fact that the team currently plays at the amphitheatre that is the Canadian Tire Centre in Kanata, an arena with a whopping capacity of 20,500.
On a very good weekend night, around 2,000 fans will show up to watch the SkyHawks play at the CTC. For a game on a weekday, they would be extremely lucky to play in front of a crowd of a thousand.
That’s why the SkyHawks recently announced they would play a pair of their upcoming home games at the Cégep de l’Outaouais, a small college in Gatineau.
The Cégep is less than 10 kms from downtown Ottawa and fits only about 350 people in its gym, making for what is sure to be a more intimate environment.
It’s hardly surprising that when the SkyHawks asked their fans halfway through the season what management could do better, a common suggestion was to have their games played at a more central, easily accessible venue than the CTC.
Let’s face it, the NBL is no NBA and the Ottawa SkyHawks have no business playing at a venue like the Canadian Tire Centre. For them to play at a venue in the middle of nowhere that even the city’s NHL team struggles to sellout is laughable.
The average capacity of the arenas that the rest of the eight NBL franchises play at is 6,837. Predictably, the Canadian Tire Centre is the largest venue of them all, having almost twice the capacity of the next biggest venue (the Halifax Rainmen play at the Halifax Metro Centre, which seats 11,000).
For a new franchise like the SkyHawks, the first step is to develop a loyal local fan base. A change of venue closer to the heart of the city would no doubt do wonders for their following as a franchise and at same time, give local businesses a lift.
It goes without saying that a location which is easy to get to by public transport or foot would boost attendance at home games. With the Senators and now the SkyHawks, Ottawa has made the mistake of going against convention by making their teams play at venues in the suburbs instead of downtown.
A team that plays in the city centre creates a tangible buzz around the city. If you’re in downtown Vancouver, you know when the Canucks are playing. You can feel it in the air.
A few locations in Centretown don’t seem too far-fetched to host the SkyHawks. If the management is willing to swallow its pride, why not try holding a couple of games at Lisgar, Immaculata or Glebe Collegiate?
Interest in the SkyHawks and basketball in general amongst high-schoolers would surely be stirred if the NBL came to their school.
Let’s show some respect for the players as well. It must be demoralizing to regularly play in front of what probably seems like an empty gym, with the sound of your own screeching sneakers on the gym floor drowning out the cheers from fans.
When it comes to sporting venues, bigger is not always better, especially when it comes to basketball in a city like Ottawa.