Following the 1996 season, years of ownership and management issues resulted in the
Ottawa Rough Riders franchise folding after a storied 120 years. A
CFL franchise in Ottawa was absent for the next five years until 2002, when football returned with new ownership and a new team name, the
Ottawa Renegades. Ownership and management controversies soon overtook the new franchise and the Renegades abruptly ceased operations prior to the
2006 CFL season. The league liquidated the Renegades roster in a
dispersal draft and placed the Ottawa CFL franchise up for sale, with the intention of eventually returning to the city.
Legislative and construction hurdles to new franchise On March 25, 2008,
Jeff Hunt, the owner of the
Ontario Hockey League's
Ottawa 67's, spearheaded a group that was awarded a franchise. The team planned to begin play in 2010, but cracks in the concrete structure in the south stands of
Frank Clair Stadium led to the demolition of those stands and delayed the start of team operations. The league then set a new date of 2013 for the team's debut, but lawsuits forced the delay of reconstruction of the stadium to be pushed back even further. In 2008, the franchise was conditionally awarded the right to host the
2014 Grey Cup game, but the owners preferred to postpone the game for a few years to give the franchise a better chance to play in the championship game. Hosting the Grey Cup is a condition included in the agreement of franchise ownership. A franchise fee was reported to have been paid to the CFL. Concurrently,
Ottawa Senators owner
Eugene Melnyk had announced plans to bid for a
Major League Soccer franchise to play in Ottawa, intending to build a
new soccer-specific stadium near the Senators'
Scotiabank Place (now
Canadian Tire Centre) in support of that plan. Questions arose about the stadium's suitability for football in place of the aging Frank Clair Stadium. However, the CFL and MLS groups could not come to any agreement on coordinating their plans. Furthermore, municipal officials questioned whether the city could support both CFL and MLS franchises. In April 2009, the staff of the city of Ottawa presented a report to the city council on the merits of the soccer stadium and Lansdowne Park proposals. The city held public hearings based on the report, which questioned the necessity of the spending but gave a slight edge to the Lansdowne proposal. Councillors attempted to learn whether the SSE group would support sharing their stadium with a planned CFL franchise, but the SSE group rejected such a possibility. Consequently, on April 22, 2009, the city council chose the Lansdowne proposal over the SSE proposal as its choice for an outdoor stadium. Negotiations were conducted over the next several months, leading to an August 26 presentation to the council so that it could decide the fate of football in Ottawa in the foreseeable future. On November 12 and 13, the council held a public debate to discuss what should be done with the area at Lansdowne Park. Guest speakers included CFL Commissioner
Mark Cohon and former
Rough Riders Jock Climie and
Mark Kosmos, who presented their case as to why the Lansdowne Live group was an important contributor to the city of Ottawa. The following Monday, November 16, it was reported that the council had voted 15–9 in favour of plans to redevelop Lansdowne Park to house a CFL team. The ownership group was given until June 2010 to sort out the details of the redevelopment, with construction set to begin in the spring of 2011. On June 28, 2010, after a twelve-hour meeting, the city council approved the plan to redevelop
Lansdowne Park by the same 15–9 vote, all but securing a franchise in the nation's capital. However, a failed legal challenge and an Ontario Municipal Board hearing on the
Lansdowne Park redevelopment project delayed the start of construction until 2013 with completion targeted for the summer of 2015, although there were indications that the stadium could be opened for football as early as 2014. Construction on the north and south side stands was set to begin in October 2012.
Start of football operations (2013) On January 30, 2013,
Marcel Desjardins was named the first
general manager in Redblacks history. Desjardins named former
Montreal Alouettes scouting director and
New York Jets pro scout
Brock Sunderland as his assistant GM in late May 2013. On December 6, 2013, Desjardins hired
Rick Campbell as the team's first head coach. Campbell is the son of former
Edmonton Eskimos coaching legend
Hugh Campbell, who coached the team to five consecutive Grey Cups from 1978 to 1982. One year before the new Ottawa club hit the field for the
2014 CFL season, it was allowed to draft four NCAA junior
redshirts (players who would participate in the
2013 NCAA football season) as part of the
2013 CFL draft. The draft took place on May 6, 2013, when Ottawa had the last pick in the first four rounds of the draft (9th, 18th, 27th and 36th overall selections). The team selected
Nolan MacMillan from
Iowa,
Connor Williams from
Utah State,
Kalonji Kashama from
Eastern Michigan and Tyler Digby from
Robert Morris. The
2013 CFL Expansion Draft was a three-round
CFL draft held on December 16, 2013, in which players from existing CFL teams were assigned to the new Ottawa team. The structure of the draft was announced on January 19, 2011, which involved one round for selecting import players and two rounds for selecting non-import players. Ottawa selected three players from each of the
eight existing teams for a total of 24 players. The team was allowed to select eight import players and 16 non-import players with
quarterbacks,
kickers and
punters eligible within their respective import/non-import categories. Ottawa was permitted to select a maximum of two quarterbacks and one kicker/punter, but not to select any two of these three players from the same team. CFL commissioner Mark Cohon was authorized to resolve any dispute related to player eligibility for the Expansion Draft process. The selections were announced live on the CFL's official website on December 16, 2013.
First season (2014) On July 3, 2014, the Ottawa Redblacks played their first regular-season game, a road match against the
Winnipeg Blue Bombers, scoring touchdowns on their first three possessions in the opening quarter, but ultimately losing 36–28. On July 18, 2014, the Redblacks earned their first regular-season win at their home opener by a score of 18–17 over the
Toronto Argonauts. The Redblacks, like most expansion teams, struggled during the whole season, and finished last in both the East Division and the league with a 2–16 record.
Young contenders (2015–2018) In their second season, the Redblacks brought in significant talent to improve the offence. The result was a greatly improved team that won eight of its last 10 regular-season games, finishing with a record of 12–6 to finish atop the
East Division and clinch a first-round bye. It was the first regular-season division title for an Ottawa-based team since
1978. On November 22, 2015, the Redblacks defeated the
Hamilton Tiger-Cats 35–28 in the East Final to advance to the
103rd Grey Cup. In doing so, they became the first Ottawa CFL team to reach the Grey Cup since the
1981 Rough Riders. They also became the second-youngest team to reach a Grey Cup final, bettered only by the
1994 Baltimore CFLers. In their first-ever Grey Cup appearance, the Redblacks lost 26–20 to the
Edmonton Eskimos. The Redblacks struggled during the
following season, finishing with an 8–9–1 record. However, the East Division was so weak that season, the Redblacks won their second consecutive division title—and with it, a bye into the East Final. Because of the CFL's crossover playoff format, Ottawa faced the Western Division's Edmonton Eskimos, winning 35–23. In the
Grey Cup, the Redblacks won the franchise's first championship—and the first for an Ottawa-based team in 40 years—by defeating the heavily favored
Calgary Stampeders 39–33 in only the third Grey Cup game in history to go into overtime. The Redblacks went into the 2017 season with high hopes as defending champions. Despite losing
Henry Burris to retirement and key contributors such as
Kienan LaFrance and
Ernest Jackson to free agency, the Redblacks finished the season with another 8–9–1 record, which was good enough for second place in the East Division, behind the Toronto Argonauts. The Redblacks struggled with injuries and inconsistent play throughout the course of the season. Their quest for a second consecutive Grey Cup fell short as the team lost to the
Saskatchewan Roughriders, which crossed over to play the Redblacks in the East Division semifinal. The Redblacks returned to form in
2018, winning their third divisional title in four years. After defeating the Tiger-Cats in the East Final, they advanced to the
106th Grey Cup game, where they were defeated by the Calgary Stampeders, which were making their third consecutive Grey Cup appearance.
Campbell and Desjardins' departure (2019–2021) The 2019 season was one to forget for the Redblacks. The team lost their main offensive stars,
Trevor Harris and
Greg Ellingson, in free agency as both players signed with the Edmonton Eskimos. The team's offensive coordinator Jaime Elizondo resigned in mid-April to take a job with the
Tampa Bay Vipers of the
XFL and was replaced two weeks later by former Renegades head coach
Joe Paopao, who served as the team's running backs coach and offensive playcaller. Their quarterbacking position was in flux for most of the season as
Jonathon Jennings,
Dominique Davis, and
Will Arndt all spent time under centre. Midway through the season, with the offense sputtering, Campbell turned over the role of offensive play-calling to Paopao, changing his role with the team from running backs coach to quarterbacks coach in the process. After a 2–0 start, the team lost four in a row and capped off the season by losing 11 consecutive games, finishing the year at 3–15, good enough for fourth in the East, and ninth place overall in the CFL. Following the season, Campbell and the Redblacks mutually agreed to part ways. On December 7, 2019, the Redblacks hired former
Winnipeg Blue Bombers head coach
Paul LaPolice as the second head coach in franchise history. Following a record of 3–15 in 2019 and the team being eliminated from playoff contention in 2021 with a record of 2–9, the Redblacks fired general manager
Marcel Desjardins on October 25, 2021. ==Team name==