I just moved to Ottawa for school. I thought i'd check out a few Sens games this year, being only 20km away from the arena. But according to google maps, it will take over an hour and a half to get there via bus. I could literally bike it in less time.

I live in Ottawa and have for 35+ years. There are a variety of issues: 1)CTC is way out in the boonies and there is NOTHING around pre or post-game. 2)Ticket purchases have been increased or put in various weird "price levels", discouraging impulse buying. 3)There are a ton of Leafs and Habs fans in Ottawa still (spoiler alert, I'm a Leafs fan) and they are not buying much outside of their team's games. That said, our group did have season tickets until the continued ineptitude of management and refusal to rebuild took our money to other places. 4)It isn't a hot ticket. Karlsson is amazing, obviously, but then you have hobos like Brassard, Ryan, Boro, Smith that he has to haul around every shift to generate. Trading Silfverberg for Ryan was crazy, by the way. 5)There just aren't a lot of committed fans here. You have 8,000-10,000 people willing to commit to going to that rink...EVERY. GAME. And that's one hell of a commitment. Going there after work and having to bring a change of clothing because you can't go home beforehand, then eating meh food so you need to pack your supper. Bleh. 6)Transport there is terrible. Just terrible. There's a 400 bus and there's a few others that can drop you nearby, and after the game the 400 bus often leaves RIGHT AWAY after the buzzer, so you can end up strnaded. 7)Maybe more importantly? The team does NO EFFORT to sell its product. There's a weird sense of entitlement that because they have an NHL team people will just fork over their money. They should be having Karlsson on banners around town, they should be pushing their product but.... 8)...they cut heir front office too often and they have only a few sales people. TLDR: It's Melnyk and rink location.

Try lowering the price? Nah, makes too much sense.

just move the damn rink downtown, 1/10 of Ottawa's population live somewhat close to the arena. Everyone else has to drive 30 minutes minimum (without traffic) on the highway

Im a major hockey fan and a leaf fan. I live in Ottawa for school and I been here for two years and have yet to go see any Sens game (even vs the Leafs). Its just too much of a struggle to get there.

The problem is where the arena is

I told you before.. I'll tell you again... Prices, prices, prices. IT COSTS TOO MUCH

I'm huge ottawa fan i have season tickets, first of all there is a huge tanger outlets thats literally 2 minutes away from arena, and the only reasons is because the sens joined in 1992-93 and we have to compete with toronto and montreal both original 6 teams people in ottawa have cheered for them there entire life and so have there parents and so on, so when the sens joined we had a tiny market so we have come a long way

Anyone who actually follows the Ottawa Senators knows exactly why. I'm pretty sure it's the only arena in the NHL that you can't take a train/metro to and it's way outside of the city. Guaranteed if it was downtown, much more people would go to games. Not everyone is a hardcore Senators fan in the city and willing to make a long drive out when here in Edmonton, not only is the arena downtown but also the majority of the people here take the LRT. Ottawa is a smaller market already and add these factors, you're going to have low attendance. Just the way it will be until they build the arena downtown. I'm not sure why everyone is making this such a big deal. The only thing that matters is on-ice performance and the Senators just got to the ECF. I really couldn't care less HOW many seats they fill if they're going to have successful seasons. It's just the liberal, fake Toronto media like SPORTSNET looking to push a narrative.

Bad location.. nuff said. Such a stupid decision.

If I lived in Ottawa I would go all the time to see Karlsson play

They should move the team to Ottawa

Such a stupid location for the arena to be in. Put the damn arena in the city, not in the middle of nowhere. Same thing with the Panthers, Coyotes and even in the MLB with the Rays

I don't go cause they don't let me out for cigarette breaks, dunno if that is the norm at all arenas now, but im not being locked in an arena for 3 hours!

100% location. Move the team downtown and I guarantee the ticket sales will jump by ALOT. 60% of people in Ottawa are too far away from the stadium and there isn't any reliable transit to get there

1:28 What was the purpose of taking out the LA Kings (25th) in the arena capacity list?

When would thwy play downtown

It's not as bad as these guys make it seem. Go sens go ..

i live in ottawa i will tell you why fans dont go it is called location to get there is a giant pain in the ass plain and simple

i think the peeps are just waiting for the new arena to be built so then go there,and it will be closer to downtown

You need bars and stuff around it to be successful

It's cause of the stadiums lacation.

are ticket prices in Ottawa too expensive?

The tickets are too expensive. SIMPLE

Location isn't necessarily a factor in filling seats. Look at Dodger Stadium in LA, Oracle Arena in Oakland, Gillette Stadium in Foxboro, etc. Those places are treks to get to, especially Dodger Stadium, but people still fill the seats. It all comes down to marketing and success of the team.

It comes down to the stadiums horrid location

I live in Peterborough and there are Sens fans here but it's a big trip. Game and hotel and a 4 hour drive each way. The Sens fans comments are bang on. Another thing, if you don't sell out during the playoffs, lower the prices. If you don't have the fan base of Montreal and Toronto don't price your tickets like you do. I had a friend in Florida who use to go to Tampa games and they'd get a ticket and free food for $40. Ottawa is a great franchise. It will be around for a long time. Don't panic because the team is trying to squeeze a few more bucks from the fans.

1) Their Arena is in the middle of nowhere, very far from City Centre 2) You can't rely on thousands of Civil servants to sell out an arena on a freezing cold Tuesday night in January 3) New Senators only founded in 92 and don't have history of Leafs or Habs 4) New Senators haven't won the big Cup yet but numerous playoff apps. have helped 5) No major stars apart from Karlsson. However i would love to see them win the Cup and beat Toronto and Montreal along the way

Why does no one ever mention the pay problem of federal employees not getting their proper pay, who might otherwise buy tickets? I don't see anyone addressing this issue of it

It's the location of the building

The arena is in the middle of friggin nowhere!!! People dont want to have to trek out to a stadium located in the boonies!! At the same time, the reason why its out there is so that way the Sens can make money off of things like parking fees.

Dylan that is not True me and my friend are sens fans

I just happened up on this video and Labreton flats is going to attract more fans and it will be near LRT. Many fans say parking is abysmal

The principle they're trying to take advantage of is called artificial scarcity. #goodluckmelnik

After a game in Toronto or MTL someone can go clubbing or celebrate the Win downtown....Please tell me what the hell you are going to do after a Sens game and WHERE you are going to go. AND NO...driving to TIM HORTONS doesn't count

I heard they don't even play in Ottawa proper? Wow. The Detroit Pistons in the NBA had a similar problem (not here for your anti-NBA takes): playing outside of the center of the base makes watching a bad, or sometimes good, team flippant.

Because of Melnyk's passing and now they can start talking about relocation and find away to get a star player for the Ottawa Senators then maybe Ottawa Senators fans will come back for sure, only if Dorian makes smarter decisions and turn this team into playoff team, but he needs pull up his pants and find away get the fans back, that will be the first goal

It’s weird how any Canadian team should be struggling to sell tickets, they were saying it’s a small market but look at Winnipeg & Calgary, their very small market teams & they pack their arenas no problem. But also Ottawa arena is in a bad spot I’ve been there.

has nothing to do with the fans not being dedicated. 1. The market is small and a lot of the potential fans already have other teams (this will change with new generations of fans eventually evening out) 2. On top of the market being small, there is less money in Ottawa compared to Montreal/Toronto/Vancouver. Most people really can't afford season tickets in any city, so it's by no means a rip on Ottawa at all. Hockey tickets are overpriced in general and most families are lucky to take in one game let alone go to 41 every year. Less corporations and people with tons of money to blow in Ottawa = less season ticket holders. 3. Location- this is less of a deal breaker, I don't really think it's the main reason. If you moved the leafs arena outside of Toronto they would still sell out easily, so it's more just a minor inconvenience that adds to the first two points.

because Canadian Tire Center is closer to Toronto than Ottawa.

Sid on äijä

I'm a sens fan and I live in Maine. I would of thought they had fans. They just played the leaves at home and it sounded like a leaf home game in there.

The arena is in the middle of a field in the middle of a town 45 minutes outside of Ottawa.

24th in arena capacity % 2016-17 20th in attendance 2016-17 6th in arena capacity 2012-2013 6th in arena attendance 2012-2013 2012-2013 had worse traffic due to the lack of queensway expansion, worse parking and far worse team roster and the same building.... something else is the problem. TV accessibility with more televised games? smoking free arena? Phoenix pay system? Larger number of the younger population jumping on the hawks, pitts, and oilers bangwagons? Older population still rooting for the Leafs and Habs?

I know this an old one but a winning record will bring fans in period.Even if it is out in the boonies.

Kanata is awesome! Housing developing is gonna help

1. The team does not treat Season Ticket Holders very well. No perks whatsoever.2. The area is a good hockey market, but most fans are loyal to Toronto or Montreal. Most Sens fans are too young to afford tickets.3. The team does not listen to fans.4. The team ignores their poor marketing.5. The team needs a rebrand.6. The arena is located too far outside of the city.7. The main employer in the city (Federal Government) has not paid its employees properly for over a year. Some not paid at all.

Prices are too high for better seats

Then don't build an arena in a field with the only ways to get there being a bus or car.

Somebody failed economics... removing seats doesn't increase demand, it reduces supply.

Its because they haven't had a single exciting rookie to watch since Jason Spezza

The Arena is so far away.

More important wtf is up with the officials this year a clear high stick should be no goal but is called good goal I was going to blow the whistle soooo no goal calls slashing more on more team then the other can't do big hits or automatic 5 min

It is a bad decision, the A's untarped a lot of their seats and sold more seats the Sens need to be closer to downtown there's no other solution.

Move to downtown Ottawa

for those complaining about driving 20min to see their team, try 30min in NJ... and i'm close to the arena! i get that representing a city instead of a state, Ottawa's arena should be easily accessible by public transportation, but that's just a weak argument. Try that the city is split between the Leafs and Habs already and Ottawa doesn't have an identity like the other nearby cities do. And it's not just hockey, no sport has done well in Ottawa. Every pro sports team that comes to Ottawa quickly goes bankrupt. Most recent example being the Ottawa Champions being omitted from the Frontier League. Yes it's independent baseball, but even that couldn't last more than 2 seasons in Ottawa.

The Senators should be fine once they get a new building located downtown. But if they don't, the NHL will just move them to Quebec City or Toronto to create a local rival second team to the Leafs. Whether it's Quebec or Toronto, they would make money regardless.

I hate to say it but if they don’t get a new arena they going to have to relocate. I hope they don’t but if they do I hope they move to Quebec

It’s becUzw we are government town and the pay system

1) They play the most boring style of hockey possible. 2) They will always play second fiddle to the Leafs and Habs in Ontario 3) Lack of star power (Karlson and that's it) 4) When the hell do you ever hear about the Sens? I genuinely think that every other Canadian team has bigger media coverage and better/more passionate fans than Ottawa

Leafsnet

Less than 1.5 hr away from Montreal doesn’t help. Then you have 50% of fans there being Leaf fans. So leafs/habs come before Sens. Been to that Arena. Worse location I’ve seen. Shoulda been right downtown.

Two words Eugene Melnyk

I live in Ottawa and the tickets are like $200 for 2 and I went to 2 playoff games and 5 regular season games, people dont go because they cost so much

Huh we sell out

1. Nightmare to get there. 2. Young franchise 3. Mediocre population

Seriously though: I think Ottawa fans are smart enough to understand that the NHL is fixed by Bettman.

Tim get ur facts straight

Give away free beer and food and cheap parking

Move the senators to Quebec

Because there's this place called Toronto

Move to Quebec, and also, get teams out of Florida and Arizona! not the lightning, the Panthers!

So when the Panthers or Coyotes don't sell out, you demand they move. But when it's the Senators, you make excuses.

My sens coyotes hurricanes are suffering

Everyone in Ontario is a leaf fan that's why

"Why can't fans actually appreciate Erik Karlsson to go and watch the Senators, just why can't they" Hmm, let's think about that. *Looks to the left towards Auston Matthews and Toronto* *Looks to the right towards Carey Price and Montreal* problem solved pretty much.

Because they're so boring to watch play. Trap hockey is terrible product to sell. Arena location is an excuse.

can you just stop for a sec being the 2 stogies and answer what all is really eager to know? where we will see Jagr next year?

Sens have horrible Jerseys. Possibly worst in the league. Also i have nothing against traditional logoes, i like them, but i would prefer if they would keep them out of their regular jerseys. There is SSOOOOOO much they could do with Roman theme, yet they are doing so very little.

Yah I live in Ottawa. Love the team. But ticket prices are friggan ridiculous here. Like $200-$300 for nosebleeds in regular season for 1 game.

How embarrassing Ottawa...How can you not want to watch Karlsson play?

Go leafs go. Already bought my tickets to the ottawa / leafs game in ottawa. Second cheaper leafs home.

We have other markets in Ontario that will rip the Ottawa market. Hamilton will rock the NHL. By the way, Kanata is too suburban...you need a downtown rink especially in a small market near the via rail station plus close to local transit hubs with bars around.

The Sens have fans? Honestly though arena location isn't the main location. They lack momentum unlike the Leafs and Habs and are usually inconsistent. Cry all you want sens "fans" but you know I'm right :P

They will move. Even in Ottowa, most folks are leafs n habs fans.

Easy. Because they're boring to watch. Trap hockey. Sleep time.

It's official. Add the Sens to list of teams that should move to Quebec

Aren't ottawa fans just jaded leafs fans?..and toronto is good for the first time in a decade so who needs ottawa.

Move the sens to Atlanta.

Move them. They don't deserve a team.

They play a boring style of hockey

cause theres too many leaf fans here

I told you before.. I'll tell you again... Prices, prices, prices. IT COSTS TOO MUCH

Leafsnet