The Ottawa SkyHawks were a Canadian professional basketball team based in Ottawa, Ontario. The SkyHawks played in the Central Division of the National Basketball League of Canada during a single season. Financial difficulty resulted in the team receiving a loan from the league in order to finish the 2013-14 season. NBL Canada announced that the SkyHawks would not participate in the 2014-15 season when the team failed to comply with the terms of the loan.
History
On November 13, 2012, National Basketball League of Canada announced that an Ottawa expansion team would join the league for the 2013-14 season. At a news conference on November 21, 2012, Gus Takkale, President of Bytown Sports & Entertainment and the person heading up the ownership group, confirmed the franchise would put a team on the court in the fall of 2013. Following a name-the-team contest, the team unveiled their nickname, the "TomaHawks", a logo, and colours on February 26, 2013. However, just hours after the announcement, social media erupted with people upset over what they felt to be a culturally insensitive nickname. After an outcry, the Ottawa NBL team will no longer be called the TomaHawks. It was announced at an event on April 4, 2013 that the team would be named the Ottawa SkyHawks. The SkyHawks finished in fourth place in the Central Division in the 2013-14 season, and failed to make the playoffs after losing a wildcard game against the Mississauga Power. The team struggled to sell tickets and required a loan from the league in order to finish the season. The team had failed to repay any of the loan by July 31, 2014, and NBL Canada's Board of Governors voted 8-0 to remove Bytown Sports & Entertainment from the league for failing to "adhere to league standards as set out in the operating agreement, and deadlines set forth to prepare for the season." The SkyHawks will not play in the 2014-15 season, but NBL Canada affirmed their commitment to have a team in Ottawa again as early as the 2015-16 season but it never happened.
Originally opened in 1996, the Canadian Tire Centre is a multi-purpose arena, located in the western suburb of Kanata, in Ottawa, Ontario. The arena has seating for 19,153 and a capacity of 20,500 including standing room. The arena hosts ice hockey, basketball, music concerts, skating, and other entertainment events. It is home to the Ottawa Sports Hall of Fame, several restaurants, a fitness complex, and several businesses. The SkyHawks shared the arena with the Ottawa Senators of the National Hockey League.
