In the early years of the Ottawa Redblacks, Ottawa Sports and Entertainment Group CEO Mark Goudie used to connect with fans on X, formerly known as Twitter.\u00a0 \u201cI was able to develop relationships with our fans and have one-on-one conversations with them. (I was) providing interesting behind-the-scenes access to stuff, but also solving problems. If [\u2026]<\/p>\n
In the early years of the Ottawa Redblacks, Ottawa Sports and Entertainment Group CEO Mark Goudie used to connect with fans on X, formerly known as Twitter.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cI was able to develop relationships with our fans and have one-on-one conversations with them. (I was) providing interesting behind-the-scenes access to stuff, but also solving problems. If somebody had a cold hot dog and they tweeted at me, I\u2019d go and find a warm hot dog and bring it to them and I loved that,\u201d he told OBJ on Thursday.\u00a0<\/p>\n
These days, it seems Goudie has a larger problem to solve: getting the Redblacks back on track as a successful sports team.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Despite a hot run from 2015 to 2018, where the team regularly placed at the top of the East Division and won the Grey Cup in 2016, Ottawa\u2019s football club has hit a rough patch in recent years. Since 2019, the team has placed near or at the bottom of the division.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Last week, Goudie took to LinkedIn to connect with Redblacks fans, present and future.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cI just had a desire to talk to people in Ottawa,\u201d he told OBJ. \u201cI sent an email to my email list, about 800 people, and I wanted to be able to speak to those I missed, so I chose LinkedIn. What I hoped it did was remind people that the Redblacks are important to the city.\u201d<\/p>\n
Starting this season, the Redblacks are in rebuild mode, Goudie said, both on and off the field.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe thing we\u2019re most proud of is the fan experience at TD Place, which has always been awesome. What hasn\u2019t kept up over the last couple of years is the quality of our team and the football on the field, so that\u2019s the big thing we\u2019re changing this season,\u201d he said.\u00a0<\/p>\n
In the off-season, the Redblacks have made changes on and off the field, including hiring Ryan Dinwiddie as head coach and general manager. Dinwiddie won one Grey Cup as assistant coach of the Calgary Stampeders in 2018, and two Grey Cups as head coach of the Toronto Argonauts in 2022 and 2024.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s a new vibe, a new energy and a new way of seeing things. It starts with the foundation that Shawn Burke, our vice-president of football operations, has built. Then, quality attracts quality,\u201d Goudie said.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe message we want to send to Ottawa football fans is that we\u2019re back, we\u2019re going to make this work and we\u2019re going to make you proud of us. We leave it to (the coaches). They\u2019re the experts. You hire the right people and you let them do their jobs,\u201d he told OBJ.<\/p>\n
However, there isn\u2019t any \u201cpixie dust or magic wand\u201d that can turn the team around.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cThis is going to be the growth of the team over the next five or six years. I think what we need to build back, with our football fans in particular, is credibility and trust. There\u2019s an emotional attachment to your hometown sports team and we\u2019ve let people down. We need to show them that we\u2019re building back stronger,\u201d he said.\u00a0<\/p>\n
And the single biggest metric of success for the Redblacks by the end of this season? \u201cBums in seats,\u201d Goudie said.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe\u2019re hosting nine \u2018parties\u2019 a year and we want as many people to come and participate. That\u2019s the only metric that really matters. If people give a crap about your product and they\u2019re choosing to invest their time in it, then you must be doing something right, both on and off the field. That\u2019s the only thing we\u2019ll care about for the next couple of years,\u201d he explained.<\/p>\n
Though football fans\u2019 budgets may be tighter, Goudie said CFL football continues to be an affordable entertainment option and the Redblacks are making a push to add value to the fan experience this season.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cWe have tickets starting at $25, so it\u2019s an affordable night out. We\u2019ve got our value menu starting, with items at $5, so you can choose your experience in terms of how you want to celebrate with us, from ticket prices to concessions to the free street party before the game and free tailgate inside the stadium.\u201d<\/p>\n
Each home game this season will have its own theme.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cWe\u2019re making sure we have a kick-ass fan experience when you come to a Redblacks game. This Saturday\u2019s game against Edmonton is our opening night, so we\u2019ll have a firework show after the game. We\u2019ve got a special menu \u2026 We\u2019ve got a legacy game on July 31st, which will be celebrating the 10th anniversary of our Grey Cup win, the 50th anniversary of the last Ottawa Roughriders Grey Cup win and 150 years of football in Ottawa. We\u2019ll have a whole bunch of alumni from the Redblacks and Rough Riders for that game,\u201d Goudie said.\u00a0<\/p>\n
With every Redblacks game ticket, fans get complimentary use of public transportation from OC Transpo and STO, he added, a \u201cunique program that\u2019s taken for granted in Ottawa\u201d that costs the team close to $1 million.\u00a0<\/p>\n
For Redblacks fans looking for transportation to away games, Goudie said the team has brought back its \u201cRNation Takes Flight\u201d program, which takes fans on chartered flights to away games, puts them up in the team\u2019s hotel and gives them access to the sidelines and players, in partnership with Canadian North.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Goudie said the program \u201cknocked it out of the park in terms of popularity\u201d last year and is expected to sell out again this year.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cIt started on a happenstance basis back in the olden days. If we had a couple of seats on the charter, we\u2019d ask one of our partners if they wanted to go. Last year, we said, \u2018Let\u2019s make a block of seats available and see if anybody\u2019s interested in joining us on the road.\u2019 It was just overwhelming. We could have used two planes to bring all the people that were interested. This year, it\u2019s more of an intentional program.\u201d<\/p>\n
The program is geared toward die-hard Redblacks fans, but Goudie said he\u2019s seen interest from local businesspeople looking to entertain clients in a new way.<\/p>\n
The Redblacks will continue to look for ways to attract more local businesses as fans and partners, he added.<\/p>\n
\u201cI think the corporate community in Ottawa is one that I\u2019m not sure if we\u2019ve done a wonderful job reaching out to and bringing close to us. But I am proud that all of our founding sponsors from 2014 are still with us. It shows that we\u2019re a good partner but, over the next couple of years, we\u2019ll be trying to figure out ways to reach out to the business community to make them aware of the role TD Place and the Redblacks can play in their corporate hospitality, advertising and promotion,\u201d he said.\u00a0<\/p>\n
One way the Redblacks are starting to reach out to local businesses is through \u201cpremium business experiences,\u201d or corporate suites and club seats.<\/p>\n
\u201cFrom a B2B perspective, we\u2019ve got this cool thing that happened with our Otto\u2019s Club and club seats. Typically, you would separate suites and club seats \u2026 but at TD Place, they\u2019re combined into one area. It\u2019s become a really cool space where suite-holders and club seat-holders hang out. It becomes like a super networking place,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019d love for people to be in their suite or seat watching the game 100 per cent of the time, but what we find is that, before the game, people linger because they\u2019ve met someone or they\u2019re doing business. At halftime, they take their time getting back to their seat for the same reasons,\u201d he explained.<\/p>\n
Goudie added that TD Stadium also has loges that may be geared toward small and medium-sized businesses that may not need a full suite. When the Lansdowne 2.0 project is complete with renewed north-side stands and an event centre overlooking the football field, Goudie said the \u201cpremium business experience\u201d will be amplified.\u00a0<\/p>\n