Ottawa has a football problem, and it is getting historic for all the wrong reasons. The Redblacks are mired in a Canadian Football League record losing streak, and the question being asked around the city now isn't just when the losing will stop, but where this stretch ranks among the worst runs the league has ever seen.
A streak with no end in sight
For a fan base that has already been through plenty of ups and downs since the Redblacks joined the CFL in 2014, this season has tested even the most patient supporters. The losses have piled up week after week, and the team's record-setting skid has turned Redblacks games from must-watch events into something closer to a grim ritual for the diehards still showing up at TD Place.
Boo or cheer? Ottawa fans are split
As the losses mount, Ottawa fans are stuck with an odd choice. Some are voicing their frustration the old-fashioned way, booing from the stands as another game slips away. Others have taken a different approach entirely, almost rooting for the losses to continue simply because the team is now chasing an infamous piece of CFL history. There's a strange kind of civic pride in even the worst kind of record, and Ottawa sports talk has been leaning into the dark humour of it all.
Why this matters for Ottawa sports fans
The Redblacks have always mattered to Ottawa in a way that goes beyond wins and losses. TD Place is a fixture of the city's summer and fall sports calendar, and the team's struggles ripple through local sports bars, radio call-in shows, and the broader conversation about the state of professional football in the capital. A losing streak this severe raises real questions about the front office, coaching decisions, and the roster building that got the team here in the first place.
It also puts Ottawa in an unusual spotlight nationally. Being compared to the CFL's all-time worst teams is not the kind of headline the city wants, but it does mean the Redblacks are part of a conversation happening across the league right now, for better or worse.
What comes next
There is no quick fix for a losing streak like this. Ottawa will need to string together wins to avoid cementing a spot among the league's most forgettable seasons, and every week that passes without a win adds more weight to the history books. For now, Redblacks fans in Ottawa are left watching, waiting, and deciding week to week whether they are cheering for a win or bracing for another chapter in a record nobody wanted the team to chase.
Source: Ottawa Citizen
