Set to begin playing in May 2015, Ottawa’s new professional baseball team will be named the “Ottawa Champions.”
Mayor Jim Watson made the announcement today with CanAm Commissioner Miles Wolff at the Ottawa Stadium, the Champions’ future home.
The team’s president will be David Gourlay, a driving force in the project to return professional baseball to Ottawa.
Watson signed a 10-year contract with team representatives, who claim to have already begun looking for local partners. In the spirit of that commitment, they’ve called for Ottawa graphic designers to compete to create the Champions’ logo.
Watson announced Ottawa would be getting a professional team in September 2012, saying that aside from providing entertainment, the team would give Ottawa residents a reason to return to the Ottawa Stadium, which he called “an important, purpose-built city asset.”
Ottawa has not had a professional baseball team since 2009, when the Ottawa Rapidz went bankrupt. The semi-pro Ottawa Fat Cats of Ontario’s Intercounty Baseball League suspended play after the 2012 season.