The Master Plan: Biotech player turned Ottawa Senators owner Eugene Melnyk faces off against COVID-19

It’s not just about the dollars and cents: fans, entire cities, can get swept up in their teams. We cheer, we weep and then we talk about the results the next day, which in Canada generally means talking about the new season right about now.

Years before Melnyk was the target of a “MelnykOut” billboard campaign in Ottawa, he was a pharmaceuticals industry insider and the founder of drug-maker Biovail Corp. For a brief time, he owned a vaccine manufacturer, and he has had a liver transplant, meaning he is immunosuppressed. Should he ever contract COVID-19, he would be a goner.

In other words, fellow NHL owners, best buckle up and get creative operationally, with sponsors, advertisers and, critically, the fans the league and its players hope to welcome back to its arenas at the start of the new year. Or we could all be getting washed under by the third wave, and then what? Melnyk, a betting man — Google “Mohegan Sun Casino Sues Senators Owner” — wagers fans are coming back, most likely in February. To that end, Ottawa has mapped out a safe seating plan for 6,000 at the Canadian Tire Centre, with fans bubbled in small groups, and with at least two empty seats plus a row between bubbles.

I can assure you that even the Ottawa Senators, who don’t have a great record of bringing fans in over the past few years, will have a sellout crowdInstead, he hopes to build a new arena in five years’ time, and isn’t counting on any government funds to help pay for it. He already owns enough land in Kanata to keep the franchise right where it’s been ever since he bought it out of bankruptcy for US$92 million in 2003.

“Younger people, especially, they need to be better engaged,” said Bruce Neve, the president of Toronto-based True Media Canada, and an expert in media strategy. “If people aren’t buying hot dogs and beer at the arena, how can teams access that disposable income — that’s the question?” said Rick Powers, an associate professor at the University of Toronto’s Rotman School of Management.

A decade ago, sponsorship deals netted the NHL US$356 million, according to market research firm Statista. Two years ago, that number was US$560 million.

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