Ottawa Senators’ new verified fan database receives ‘a few thousand’ applicants right away

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The Ottawa Senators are rallying their diehards in hopes of taking back the Canadian Tire Centre for rivalry games against the Toronto Maple Leafs and Montreal Canadiens.

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On Thursday, the team launched the Verified Sens Army program, an initiative designed to identify true Senators fans and offer them discounted tickets to big matchups that have been dominated by away fans in recent memory.

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A day later, Brendan Du Vall, the franchise’s vice president of ticket sales, met with a task force to discuss the good news: Thousands of applications.

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“It’s been just over 24 hours, so we think there’s a recipe here,” Du Vall told the Ottawa Citizen over the phone on Friday.

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Alarm bells were impossible to ignore in January when perhaps the largest ever contingent of Habs fans stormed CTC for what Ottawa defenceman Jake Sanderson described as “an away game at home.” The crowd was 80:20 Canadiens fans, who witnessed the Senators dealt a deflating 6-5 overtime loss. Sens fans lost their minds, ranting on online forums and the TSN 1200 post-game show.

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Rather than simply waiting for the outrage to die down, the Senators acted. Additional, non-transferable tickets were offered to season seat members in hopes that they would go with their friends and family instead of making a pretty penny in the resale market. New rivalry game packages were created for the general public.

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But the franchise understood there was no quick fix for a problem the size of Montreal and Toronto combined. They needed to think big. They needed to get everyone on board.

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“One of the themes that we’ve been really leaning in on over the past year has been, ‘Hey, we’re listening,’” Du Vall told the Ottawa Citizen on Friday. “We had a number of focus groups with our current season seat members, some lapsed season seat members, some of our most passionate fans, some members of the media, and this was an issue that just kept coming up time and time again.

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“Our Senators fans want to take back our building.”

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That’s where the new database comes in.

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Anyone can apply through the team’s mobile app to become a Verified Sens Army member, but no funny business. Applicants are required to link their Ticketmaster account and must be able to prove that they attend an array of Senators games. Habs and Leafs fans looking for a bargain will be weeded out.

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You must also fill out a questionnaire. What’s your geographic location? How long have you been a fan for? How many games have you attended in the past two years? What’s your favourite moment in Senators history?

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Next week, the first batch of Senators fans will be granted access to the program. Verified Sens Army members will be offered tickets at a “highly preferred, discounted price,” and it not just for Leafs and Habs games. There are many perks involved.