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Ottawa Lynx...fighting for survival?

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07 / 21 / 2005 - Vol. 1, No. 14 - Ontario Edition
Baseball Lynx face squeeze play in Ottawa
Lack of parking contributing to club's shrinking attendance
By Mike Levin - Business Edge
Published: 05/12/2005 - Vol. 1, No. 9


The Coventry Road home of the Ottawa Lynx seems to be shrinking. When the 10,332-seat Lynx Stadium was built in an industrial area of the city's east end for the International League baseball team's 1993 inaugural Triple-A season, it was mostly surrounded by empty lots. The bright blue seats were a colourful break in an otherwise grey environment.

Today, the stadium is surrounded by big-box stores, apartment buildings and an industrial strip mall.

It has also lost 1,700 of its original 2,500 parking spaces as the City of Ottawa sold off adjacent land, a move many believe has contributed to a steady decline in attendance.

Despite breaking a 47-year-old International League attendance record in their first year and being a significant economic generator for more than a decade, the Lynx's future in Ottawa appears to be shrinking with the stadium footprint. Attendance has slid every year, from 693,043 in 1993 to 159,619 in 2004.

This season the team has a budget of about $2.3 million. Of that about $1.5 million will be spent on local goods and services, such as 12 full-time and 150 part-time staff. The team also will play 72 home games against visiting teams who will pay for their own 1,500 hotel rooms and thousands of meals.

General manager Kyle Bostwick says that the stadium was built for the team by the city for just over $17 million, but during the past 12 seasons the Lynx have paid more than that amount in rent.

"We've developed excellent relationships with local businesses and media, including holding community events," he says. "And a family of four can have a day at the ballpark with hotdogs and drinks for as little as $40.

"We're competitive and we've created a lot of value. Somehow, we just can't get the (fan) support," Bostwick says.

With corporate sponsorship sliding with attendance, Bostwick says he needs between 4,500 and 5,000 spectators a game to keep the team operating. Last year average attendance was about 2,300 per game.

The mid-April opening-day crowd of 7,600 was a bright spot, but Ottawa's wet and cold April and May make it difficult to attract fans early in the season.

Wayne Scanlan, longtime sports columnist for the Ottawa Citizen, says he believes the parking and other logistical problems make it seem as if the city has already given up on the team.

"They need corporate help. There's enough businesses in Ottawa to each chip in a couple of season tickets, to get over the hump of those first miserable months," he says. "Also, they're the only AAA team without a nightly broadcast. This is a must for a team at this level."

Although 22 Lynx games are televised, there is no full-time radio coverage. The lack of fan support has forced Bostwick to renegotiate the share of concession sales the team gets from S.L.G. Restaurant Group to less than the league average 25 to 30 per cent, because fewer fans means fewer peanuts and beer are sold.

"We've worked hard with the Lynx for four years and do about 50 per cent of our business with them, but sales keep going down," says S.L.G. owner Joe Price, whose company also services Rideau Carleton Raceway.

"I talk with Kyle a lot about doing some concerts or boxing to get the stadium busy," he says. "But if the fans don't come out to games, there's not a lot we can do."

There are many reasons why Ottawa's love affair with the Lynx has waned.

Last year the Lynx finished tied for last with a record of 66 wins and 78 losses in the league's six-team North Division, which includes Scranton, Wilkes-Barre, Rochester, Syracuse, Pawtucket and Buffalo.

It is also a nightmare for the team when fans arrive and find the 800 remaining parking spots are full and the nearest public parking is almost a kilometre away.

Interest also suffered when owner Ray Pecor - a Vermont businessman and retired owner of Lake Champlain Transportation - switched major league affiliation from the then-locally popular Montreal Expos to the Baltimore Orioles in 2002.

Major league teams pay all salaries of minor league players and contribute to equipment costs, but have no financial stake in teams' profits or losses.

An International League franchise is worth between $10 million and $15 million US, Bostwick says.

Affiliation also means minor league teams have no control over their rosters. Player movements are determined by the parent club and it is difficult for a local team to develop the type of player brand equity that is common in sports such as hockey.

"That's why we don't market the players, although it might help if we had some Canadian players on the team," Bostwick says.

"But I think the real underlying reason is that hockey is just too ingrained here. There are no major league baseball players that I know of from Ottawa, so it's tough to sell a sport like baseball without a tradition among fans," he says.

It is an explanation that has been heard elsewhere in Canada. In recent years Triple-A teams left Edmonton, Calgary and Vancouver because the Trappers, Cannons and Canadians did not attract sufficient spectators.

Bostwick says he thinks that if the Lynx leave Ottawa, the city might support an Class A team. Class A teams play a shorter season that starts in June and finishes in early September.

"In AAA, 72 (home) games are a huge number, not for the cost of the season ticket but for the end of the year when you look at how many games you didn't go to," he says. "Ottawa has some solid, loyal ball fans, but the number of games may be a bit too high."

The team has a lease on Lynx Stadium until 2009, although it can buy its way out earlier. Bostwick declines to reveal the cost of a buyout.

The City of Ottawa will not comment on the stadium's future should the Lynx leave. It was built to Triple-A specifications, and many believe it is too expensive to operate for anything other than a high-level baseball team. Currently it is not used for anything other than Lynx games.

In late April, city council negotiated an agreement between the Lynx and St. Laurent Shopping Centre to provide parking for home games.

The mall is about two kilometres from the stadium and the city plans to use OC Transpo buses to shuttle fans back and forth. Whether fans will use public transportation is another question, but attendance will have to increase significantly for the team to consider staying, Bostwick says.
 
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