Sport in Ottawa, Canada's capital, has a history dating back to the 19th century. Ottawa is home to seven professional sports teams: the Ottawa Senators of the National Hockey League; the Ottawa Redblacks of the Canadian Football League; the Ottawa Titans of the Frontier League; the Ottawa Blackjacks of the Canadian Elite Basketball League; Atlético Ottawa of the Canadian Premier League; Ottawa Charge of the Professional Women's Hockey League; Ottawa Rapid FC of the Northern Super League, and the Ottawa Black Bears of the National Lacrosse League. Several non-professional teams also play in Ottawa, including the Ottawa 67's junior hockey team and other semi-professional and collegiate teams in various sports.
Sports teams in Ottawa
Professional and Major Junior teams Ottawa has two teams that are part of the North American major professional league, including the Ottawa Senators (NHL), Ottawa RedBlacks (CFL). ClubSportLeagueVenueEstablishedChampionshipsOttawa Senators (1992-present) and Ottawa Senators (original) (1883-1934)Ice hockeyNational Hockey League (1917-present) and Other Old Leagues (1883-1917)Canadian Tire Centre (1996-present) Old Arenas (1883-1934) 1992 (Original, 1883) 11 (original team, 19 in total) (last in 1927)Ottawa 67'sIce hockeyOntario Hockey League and Canadian Hockey LeagueTD Place Arena19674 (2 Memorial Cup and 2 J. Ross Robertson Cup (last in 2001)Gatineau OlympiquesIce hockeyQuebec Maritimes Junior Hockey League and Canadian Hockey LeagueCentre Slush Puppie19697 (1 Memorial Cup and 6 QMJHL Champions (last in 2008)Ottawa Redblacks (2014-present), Ottawa Renegades (2002-2006), and Ottawa Rough Riders (1876-1996)Canadian footballCanadian Football LeagueTD Place Stadium20141 Grey Cup Ottawa Redblacks (last in 2016), 9 Grey Cup Ottawa Rough Riders (last in 1976) Ottawa BlackJacksBasketballCanadian Elite Basketball LeagueTD Place Arena20190Atlético OttawaSoccerCanadian Premier LeagueTD Place Stadium20201 North Star Cup (last in 2025)Ottawa TitansBaseballFrontier LeagueOttawa Stadium20201 (last in 2026)Ottawa ChargeIce hockeyProfessional Women's Hockey LeagueCanadian Tire Centre20230Ottawa Rapid FCSoccerNorthern Super LeagueTD Place Stadium20240
Semi-professional and amateur teams ClubSportLeagueVenueEstablishedChampionshipsOttawa SoonersCanadian footballCanadian Junior Football LeagueTAAG Park19604 Canadian Bowl (last in 1992)Cumberland PanthersCanadian footballQuebec Junior Football LeagueMillennium Sports Park19930Nepean RavensRingetteNational Ringette LeagueNepean Sportsplex20210Ottawa Junior RidersCanadian footballQuebec Junior Football LeagueNepean Sportsplex19959 Joe Pistilli Cup (last in 2019)Ottawa SwansAustralian footballAFL OntarioRideau Carleton Raceway20064 (Last in 2024)Ottawa Lady SenatorsIce hockeyOntario Women's Hockey LeagueBell Sensplex20082 (Last in 2009)
Defunct and relocated teams A number of professional and major semi-professional sports franchises have folded or relocated away from Ottawa over the years, spanning various North American leagues.
Team Sport League Years active Fate Ottawa Senators Ice hockey National Hockey League 1917–1934 Relocated to St. Louis as the St. Louis Eagles Ottawa Nationals Ice hockey World Hockey Association 1972–1973 Relocated to Toronto as the Toronto Toros Ottawa Civics Ice hockey World Hockey Association 1976 Folded mid-season after 7 games (formerly Denver Spurs) Ottawa Rough Riders Canadian football Canadian Football League 1876–1996 Ceased operations due to financial insolvency Ottawa Renegades Canadian football Canadian Football League 2002–2006 Operations suspended by league; later folded Ottawa Athletics Baseball International League 1952–1954 Relocated to Columbus, Ohio Ottawa Lynx Baseball International League 1993–2007 Relocated to Allentown, Pennsylvania as the Lehigh Valley IronPigs Ottawa Rapidz Baseball Can-Am League 2008 Declared bankruptcy and folded Ottawa Champions Baseball Can-Am League 2014–2019 Dropped by league after stadium lease termination Ottawa SkyHawks Basketball National Basketball League of Canada 2013–2014 Expelled from league due to financial issues Ottawa Intrepid Soccer Canadian Soccer League 1987–1989 Folded (operated as Ottawa Pioneers in 1987) Ottawa Rebel Box lacrosse National Lacrosse League 2001–2003 Operations suspended; later relocated as the Edmonton Rush Ottawa Titans Box lacrosse National Lacrosse League 1990–1991 Proposed expansion team; folded before playing a game Ottawa Black Bears Quadball Major League Quadball 2015-2025 Placed on "indefinite pause" due to lack of local quadball infrastructure. Ottawa Black Bears Box lacrosse National Lacrosse League 2024–2026 Ceased operations following arena eviction and lease disputes
Post-secondary athletics There are two public universities in Ottawa that presently operate a varsity program. They include the University of Ottawa (est. 1848 )and the Carleton University (est. 1942). The athletic programs of the two universities are a part of the Ontario University Athletics program, which itself is a member of U Sports.
Facilities used by university athletic programs based in Ottawa includes: Varsity programsFootball StadiumSeated CapacityBasketball ArenaSeated CapacityHockey ArenaSeated CapacitySoccer StadiumSeated CapacityOttawa Gee-GeesGee-Gees Field4,152Montpetit Hall1,000Minto Sports Complex850Matt Anthony Field1,500Carleton RavensTAAG Park3,500Raven's NestCarleton Ice House500TAAG Park3,500
Sports Ice hockey
Ice hockey began in Ottawa with the Stanley Cup in 1893. Teams from the city were dominant during the first quarter of the 20th century, with Ottawa teams winning 11 Cups from 1903 to 1927. The original Ottawa Senators were one of the original members of the National Hockey League, which was founded in 1917. The team folded in 1934 during the Great Depression, moving to St. Louis to become the St. Louis Eagles. The Senators returned to the National Hockey League in 1992. They currently play at the Canadian Tire Centre in Kanata.
In junior hockey, the city is represented by the Ottawa 67's of the Ontario Hockey League. The team began play in 1967, Canada's centennial year. Ottawa played host to the Memorial Cup tournament in 1972 and 1999. Ottawa also played host to the 2009 World Junior Ice Hockey Championships, and hosted the 2025 edition of the tournament as well. The city is home to three teams in the Central Canada Hockey League (Ottawa, Navan, Nepean), three teams in the Eastern Ontario Junior Hockey League (Ottawa, Ottawa West, Richmond) and three teams in the National Capital Junior Hockey League (Kanata, Metcalfe, Cumberland).
Ottawa was granted one of six charter franchises in the new Professional Women's Hockey League in 2023. The Ottawa Charge (then known as PWHL Ottawa) debuted on January 2, 2024, hosting Montreal at a sold-out TD Place Arena—the 8,318 fans in attendance set a new record for a women's professional hockey game.
Ottawa also has a minor hockey program, and plays host to the Bell Capital Cup each year.
Canadian football The Ottawa Rough Riders were a Canadian Football League team that was founded in 1876 and would prove to be one of the oldest tenured sports franchises in North America. The team won nine Grey Cup championships over its long history but due to poor team play, poor attendance records and even worse management, the Rough Riders folded after the 1996 season, ending 120 years of professional football in Ottawa.
Five years later, a CFL expansion franchise was granted to the City of Ottawa. The team, called the Ottawa Renegades, began play in 2002, but folded in 2006 after just four seasons, due again to poor management. Less than two years later, in March 2008, a new franchise was awarded to the Ottawa Sports and Entertainment Group, led by Jeff Hunt, to begin play in 2010. The franchise was conditional upon reconstruction of Frank Clair Stadium, leading to a four-year delay for the team. The third iteration of professional football in Ottawa, the Ottawa Redblacks, began play in 2014, playing in the newly refurbished TD Place Stadium.
The University of Ottawa Gee-Gees football teams have won two Vanier Cups with their first in 1975 and then again in 2000. Carleton University also had a football team from 1945–1998, but the program was cancelled after the 1998 season. There have since been efforts to revive the program, with the football team being approved for Ontario University Athletics membership beginning in 2013. The rivalry between the two schools is heated, and the annual game between the two teams is known as the Panda Game.
The city also has two junior teams. The Ottawa Sooners play in the Canadian Junior Football League while the Ottawa Junior Riders play in the Quebec Junior Football League.
Baseball Ottawa has had three International League franchises in its history. The Ottawa Giants (1951), the Ottawa Athletics (1952–1955) and most recently, the Ottawa Lynx (1993–2007). The Lynx were once very popular in the city, leading the league in attendance in its inaugural season, but attendance dropped and the team moved to the Lehigh Valley. The Lynx won the Governors' Cup in 1995.
Baseball was revived in Ottawa for the 2008 season, when the Ottawa Rapidz were founded in the independent Can-Am League. However, the team lasted just one season, as it folded, citing high rent for the stadium, despite respectable attendance.
Baseball returned to Ottawa from 2010 to 2012 with the addition of the Ottawa Fat Cats of the Intercounty Baseball League, but they folded before the 2013 IBL season.
The Ottawa Champions were founded in 2014 and began play in 2015. However, when the Can-Am League merged with the Frontier League in 2019, the Champions were left off the 2020 schedule. Ottawa joined the Frontier League again in the form of the Ottawa Titans who were founded in 2020 and began play in 2022 at Ottawa Stadium. The Ottawa Titans officially won the 2026 Frontier Cup on home field in front of 9009 fans. The team set and broke the league's attendance record twice (beating their old record from the home opener), which is now 10,303 fans. They set this record during game 3 of the Frontier League finals against the Evansville Otters, winning 8-6.
Ottawa is also home to the largest amateur baseball league in Canada – the National Capital Baseball League (www.nationalcapitalbaseball.com). The league is a wooden bat league with 37 teams in 4 tiers (as of 2012).
Basketball Basketball in Ottawa began with the Ottawa SkyHawks, a professional basketball team that played in the National Basketball League of Canada in 2013. They later folded in 2014. The Ottawa Blackjacks of the Canadian Elite Basketball League were established in 2019 and began play in 2020. They were the first expansion team in the Canadian Elite Basketball League (CEBL).
Both Carleton University and the University of Ottawa sport varsity men's teams. The U Sports Men's Basketball Championship has been held in Ottawa from 2008 to 2010 and 2013 to 2014. The city plays host to the Capital Hoops Classic every January where both university teams play at Canadian Tire Centre. The first classic set a record for the highest attended university game in Canadian history.
Soccer