Whether it’s the Ottawa REDBLACKS and 67’s, or the four other tenant teams who call the building home, there are always tickets to be sold for sporting events, let alone all the concerts and other shows that come along the way.

Eric Childers, the Director of Ticket Operations with Ottawa Sports and Entertainment Group has an important role as he reaches his 10th anniversary with the organization.

Day-to-day, Childers manages everything to do with the ticketing systems, including liaising with Ticketmaster – the vendor that hosts the ticket platform for all of the events at TD Place. One of his main responsibilities, other than the ticketing system, is leading and supporting his team.

“This past year, we had over 150 ticketed events here on site,” Childers said. “We’re a really busy site from a ticketing perspective, and there are a lot of moving parts.”

Working with OSEG isn’t Childers’ first rodeo when it comes to sports. He previously worked with the New Orleans Hornets of the NBA after Hurricane Katrina forced them to temporarily relocate to Oklahoma City in 2005. He spent some time working as a Ticket Operations Manager at Homestead-Miami Speedway, as well, before moving to Ottawa to be with his daughter and wife, who he met while working with Disney Cruise Line.

Childers has previously worked with the Ottawa Senators, as well, before accepting his job at OSEG 10 years ago. Through it all, he says he’s done nothing but take steps forward.

“I’ve just grown,” Childers said. “I’ve found myself through multiple roles that taught me something about myself, and I learned to be a business professional through those different experiences.”

Moving from a hot climate to snow and cold weather was one of the biggest challenges in moving to Canada.

“It was like that movie Cool Runnings,” Chiders said with a laugh. “I knew it was cold, but I had been wearing running shoes, because it was probably 70 degrees Fahrenheit in New Orleans when I left there in March. It took me a while to get adjusted to driving on snowy roads and getting snow tires. I’ve learned to really love Ottawa and even the weather.”

In recent times, Childers oversaw TD Place’s transition in ticketing systems to Ticketmaster. He admitted it was a dedicated effort from the entire ticket operations staff and many other departments in the organization.

It wasn’t as easy as just changing a couple of links on the website, it was months of work to ensure the launch went smoothly for numerous different sports, and the arena and stadium configurations.

“It took us three or four months to get the manifest in a perfect spot for each event,” Childers said. “Between REDBLACKS and Atlético, the seats don’t change, but the manifest does. Section S, for example, would be one price for Atlético, it’s a different price for REDBLACKS games. We had to build each event and each sport specifically.”

It doesn’t end there, either. When you go to buy tickets online, and you see the virtual view from the seat, that also needs to be done by Childers and his team.

Childers said “There are a lot of moving parts to that, but we had a good foundation from previous years of what our seats were like. We had to build it to the specs of Ticketmaster.”

Those are some of the things that Childers holds a great deal of pride in, but the undertaking of hosting the Grey Cup in 2017 was on a whole different level.

“Hosting was a really cool experience,” Childers said. “I’ve worked a Super Bowl in New Orleans, but we built the Grey Cup from scratch. We watched it go from zero seats purchased, to being sold out. Just seeing it all come together was really exciting.”

After 10 years, the honeymoon phase is far from over for the OSEG veteran. He says he has no regrets about his time and would recommend the company to anyone looking to work in a sports and entertainment environment.

“It’s a great place to grow and develop, and I’ve had the most development I’ve ever had in my career at this organization.”

“I’ve had a great experience here,” Childers said. “The staff is super close, it’s like a family, and I couldn’t ask for a better place to work.”