The puck is about to drop on the PWHL’s third season, but in Ottawa, the attention is off the ice.
The Charge are in the midst of an arena crisis following the Ottawa city council’s approval of a $419 million renovation plan for Lansdowne Park, the team’s home venue. The Lansdowne 2.0 project, which will turn the area into an entertainment and sports hub, includes the construction of a new arena that the Charge will use.
But the renovations will slash nearly 3,000 seats.
The Charge’s current Lansdowne Park arena has a capacity of 8,500. With the reduction in capacity, Lansdowne 2.0 would “by far the smallest arena in our league,” PWHL executive vice president of business operations Amy Scheer told Front Office Sports. “It would be a setback for our players who have fought so long and so hard for our league and to play in arenas that really meet their requirements. And our fan requirements as well.”
The Charge had the third-highest average attendance in the PWHL last year, with 7,597 fans per game—larger than the planned capacity of Lansdowne 2.0. (The Toronto Sceptres led the league with 9,725 fans; Montréal Victoire were second at 9,629.) Across the entire PWHL, average attendance jumped 7,230 in 2024–25 from 5,689 its inaugural season in 2023–24, and the total attendance across 102 games last season was up 52.5%.
The PWHL has been clear about its desire to keep the Charge right where they are. “We love Ottawa,” Scheer said.
However, the league’s love for the Canadian city will not keep it beholden to it. “We will look to do everything we can to stay in Ottawa,” Scheer continued. “But we’ve also been clear that we will not play in a 5,500 seat arena.”
“Everything they can” includes the possibility of relocating the Charge, which is an original six franchise. Scheer did not provide a concrete decision-making timeline for the future of the team.
“We could decide in May or June what we want to do. The league’s focus right now is continuing conversations with all interested parties to find the best solution for the team and its fans,” she said. “Today, every option is on the table. We have a lot of due diligence to do there.”
