Capital Sports Development Inc (CDSI), which is led by the NHL team, registered to lobby the Ontario government to discuss “arena eligibility for infrastructure financing and other government programs.” CDSI has been trying to open an arena in downtown Ottawa for years to replace the Canadian Tire Centre in Kanata, roughly 25 kilometres outside the city centre. It's hoping Ontario will help foot the bill, as the province has funding up to $200 million available for “sport and recreation infrastructure.”

The National Capital Corporation (NCC), a Crown corporation responsible for federal land in the Ottawa area, agreed to sell the land in Ottawa’s LeBreton Flats neighbourhood to CDSI for the new arena in September 2024. Under its previous name, Capital Sports Management Inc., the team signed an agreement in principle to develop the LeBreton land in 2018. But that deal fell apart when former Senators owner Eugene Melnyk sued the developer he had partnered with to build the stadium. Melnyk’s $700-million suit and the developer’s $1-billion countersuit were eventually settled out of court in 2022.