(Originally posted at the Unofficial Can-Am Ottawa Blog)
Talking about million dollar losses and a threatened baseball franchise on a day when the Dow Jones lost over 700 points may seem a little trivial, but we’re going to discuss it - at least over here. First, a word on nomenclature, because there is a distinction to be made between the Ottawa Rapids and the Ottawa Rapidz. The Rapids were the team envisioned by most of us, people like Miles Wolff, Don and Lorraine Charrette and my son. A team that was snatched from the jaws of defeat more than once, and that had its zenith at the February 14th press conference with the introduction of its first manager, its front office staff, and its distinctive logo. The people involved all held one unifying trait: They loved the game of baseball.
The contrast with the Rapidz was as stark as it was disquieting. First the name and logo change - a pointless decision that needlessly upset many of the fledgling franchises fans. Next, the firing of GM Don Charrette and the very clumsily handled dismissal of Ed Nottle, the latter a complete PR disaster. Good things that had been done around the park were completely undermined and then forgotten. In the two years that I’ve written the Unofficial Ottawa Lynx Blog I have yet to receive one email from a former or then current staff member criticizing the organization. Not a single one. The Rapidz? Don’t even ask (scroll to the bottom of the link for “full disclosure”).
So where do things stand?
It’s a great day,” Rapidz owner Rob Hall said. “I think we would have liked a little higher (attendance overall), but we got hit with some pretty bad rain in June.
”People are returning and realizing that we have a great product on the field, great food and concessions that are a little different, and it’s a great family experience. If you look at our trend, it’s up, and people are coming back and word is spreading how great it is to take the family to a Rapidz game.”
Hall is also looking forward to next year.
“We took over this team three weeks before the season, so we were rushed to get everything done in 21 days,” Hall said. ”Now we’ve got eight months to plan next year, so we’re really looking forward to the opportunity to show Ottawa what we can do,” he said.
That was a mere 28 days ago. And now:
The Ottawa Rapidz baseball club have struck out after only one season.
Team owner Rob Hall notified the Can-Am Baseball League his club will cease operations effective immediately after failing to secure a long-term lease with the city of Ottawa for use of Ottawa Stadium.The Rapidz said they were told by the city in a meeting early this month that rent at the stadium would jump from its present $108,000 per season to in the area of $1 million once the current lease with the city expires following the 2009 season.
Now that’s a pretty big jump - a several hundred percent increase, pretty staggering. But let’s back up for just a second. Recently, according to Mr. Hall, “despite a 31-63 record and financial losses of “well over a million dollars,” co-owner Rob Hall said he had a lot of fun at the ballpark and is already looking forward to next year.” And then there was this from former co-owner Rick Anderson:
So no regrets?
“None,” said Anderson. “We love it. We’re delighted, actually.
“Next year will be even better than this year. And the next year will even be better.
So how do you get from “looking forward to next year” and “delighted” to shutting down the team? I’d suggest that the $892,000 increase is probably where Hall intends to lay the blame. And I’d be prepared to join in the bashing of the City, particularly after what we went through in the days before Zip. But there’s a little problem, several actually, and they’re called facts. Blog sources at City Hall are saying that the City was prepared to offer a lease at far, far less than the purported “million dollars a year”. The other story, which now has hit the MSM:
The Sun has learned that after only its first season, it could be the end of the road for the Ottawa Rapidz.
Either later today or tomorrow, city council will be informed by city staff that the Can-Am Baseball League team will file for bankruptcy after its inaugural season.
More details to follow.
If true, this is staggering. Having operated the club for only five months, the team by its own admission lost well over a million dollars. Now Ray Pecor reportedly lost at least a million per season every year he owned the club, but there are several differences between your Ottawa Lynx and the Zip Rapidz. The biggest difference? Expenses. The Lynx operated Lynx Stadium year round and had to cover expenses for 72 home dates (as opposed to 40 something for the Rapz) plus higher travel costs (i.e. the occasional flight). But getting back to the point, if the Rapidz are already bankrupt, this million dollar a year lease argument is entirely irrelevant - a red herring. It’s pretty tough to blame the City for this - no more than I would blame an undertaker for not saving his unfortunate client. For his part, the commissioner of the Can-Am League, Miles Wolff concurs - the City has bent over backwards for Independent baseball in Ottawa, they’re not the problem.
Watch closely as the facts continue to spill out over the next few days.
But for now, the old adage is true: All politics is local. Which is why I face the unenviable task of once again having to explain to my son why baseball in Ottawa is very much in question.
Unfortunately, unlike Mr. Hall, I can’t hide behind a spokesperson.
