Ottawa Renegades - Franchise History

Franchise History

The Ottawa Renegades returned Canadian Football League action to Canada's capital in 2002. Ottawa had been without a team since 1996, when the Ottawa Rough Riders folded. The logo chosen draws similarities to the logo used by the Rough Riders for much of their existence up until 1992. As of 2008, the Renegades have played four seasons and never qualified for the playoffs. In May 2005, Bernard Glieberman (former owner of the Rough Riders and the CFL USA's Shreveport Pirates) took ownership of the team, and made his son Lonie Glieberman team president. The team's only head coach had been Joe Paopao. On November 7, 2005, the Ottawa Renegades announced John Jenkins as head coach and General Manager for 2006, with Forrest Gregg serving as the team's Executive VP for football. However, this did not occur because of the suspension of the team's operations.

The organization has become known for its devoted fan following, an informal group called "Renegade Nation". Local newspaper stories have noted their activities, which have included raising funds for players fined by the CFL or the team, as well as tailgating more than 12 hours before game time (uncommon in CFL cities) with players and coaches frequently dropping by before or after the game.

On March 3, 2006, Lonie Glieberman resigned from day-to-day operations of the team, acknowledging that he made mistakes during his tenure.

With the team losing $3.8 million in 2005, and the possibility of losing an additional $2.3 million to $5.8 million in 2006, the organization requested financial assistance from the CFL, which the league was not willing to provide. On March 22, 2006, Bernie Glieberman decided to stop funding the Renegades. While the CFL previously took over operations of the Toronto Argonauts and the Hamilton Tiger-Cats in 2003, on April 9, 2006, the CFL's board of governors decided not to do that for the Renegades. The CFL started looking for a new owner.

The players of the Ottawa Renegades were dispersed to the remaining 8 CFL teams in a dispersal draft, with QB Kerry Joseph going #1 to the Saskatchewan Roughriders.

Steelback Brewery president Frank D'Angelo announced in April 2006 that he was exploring opportunities to revive the team. The announcement was not cleared with the Canadian Football League, who indicated that they had had only one informal conversation with D'Angelo, in which no decision was made.

On May 15, 2007, the CFL announced that it had ended discussions with a group led by William Palmer regarding the return of a CFL team to Ottawa for the 2008 season.

CFL Commissioner Mark Cohon stated "everal parties have expressed interest regarding a franchise for Ottawa, and we have decided to concentrate efforts on these new opportunities. The CFL remains committed to the City of Ottawa, and we remain determined to return a franchise to the nation’s capital only at a time and under circumstances that will ensure strength and stability in the long run".

However, in September 2007, the lower south side of Frank Clair Stadium was closed, due to cracks in the concrete structure. Ottawa mayor Larry O'Brien was quoted at the time that this was an opportunity to do a review of the usage and the facilities of Lansdowne Park. This makes the future of a team in Ottawa an uncertain one, because if it is decided to demolish the stadium, an Ottawa team would be without a stadium until another is built, and would have to play at a smaller venue in Ottawa or in another Ontario town such as Kingston, which has a stadium (Richardson Memorial Stadium) that could be raised to the CFL minimum of 25,000 seats, and has hosted a Grey Cup game before, or the most likely scenario, the Ottawa Renegades will stay suspended for the foreseeable future until a new stadium is built or the team will be folded outright.

On March 25, 2008, the league ended the team's indefinite limbo by awarding the franchise to Jeff Hunt, owner of the Ottawa 67's. Pending the reconstruction of Frank Clair Stadium, the team will begin play in 2013. Whether the team will retain the Renegades name is unclear.