(Pictured above left to right Senators Sports & Entertainment COO & CFO Erin Crowe, National Lacrosse League Commissioner Brett Frood, and GF Sports and Entertainment’s Erik Baker. Photo: Sportsnet)
The Stittsville-Kanata area will be getting a new sports team. New York Riptide of the NLL (National Lacrosse League) will be relocating to the nation’s capital for the 2024-25 season. Originally reported Tuesday by TSN 1200s John Rodenburg on X (@tsnjr) and later confirmed the next day by TSN reporter Claire Hana (@clahanna). The league announced that the new lacrosse team will be named the Ottawa Black Bears. They will be playing out of the Canadian Tire Centre which is known for hosting the NHL’s Ottawa Senators. This will be the first time the Senators share the building with another professional sports team since 2016 when they shared it with their minor league team in Binghamton.
(The new logo and wordmark of the team. Photo: insidelacrosse.com)
This will be the first time Ottawa has had a professional lacrosse team since 2003. Even though Ottawa has not had any professional teams since the early 2000s it does not mean they are a stranger to the sport. Ottawa is known for its many local youth teams such as the Nepean Knights, Gloucester Griffins, and the Ottawa Capitals. With the popularity of lacrosse growing, more parents find themselves signing their kids up for box and field lacrosse.
(Pictured above are players Ryan Mckeown #01 and Ethen Hopkins #18 playing for the Nepean Knights, a local team that takes players from the Stittsville community. Photo: Ryan Mckeown)
This is another addition to the growing sports market in Ottawa. The city has added multiple franchises in the past few years such as the Ottawa Black Jacks basketball team and most recently, PWHL Ottawa of the new women’s hockey league. The Black Bears unlike the other new sports teams will be coming out to the west end to play at the CTC making this team more accessible to members of the Stittsville and Kanata community.
With games starting in October 2024, this is a very exciting opportunity to grow the lacrosse game in Ottawa and add another attraction for people of all ages in the Stittsville and Kanata communities.
Season tickets will be available for purchase in April 2024. For more information and to become an Ottawa Black Bears insider visit: https://www.canadiantirecentre.com/ottawa-black-bears/.