Ottawa Stadium new baseball tenants are the 'Champions'

The independent league baseball team slated to make Ottawa Stadium their home next spring will be called the Ottawa Champions.

The Champions unveiled their name Monday alongside Miles Wolff, the commissioner of the Canadian American Association of Professional Baseball and Ottawa Mayor Jim Watson.

The city's deal with the Champions allows the team to lease the stadium for up to 10 years. The team is scheduled to begin play in May 2015.

A previous Can-Am franchise, the Ottawa Rapidz, lasted only one season in 2008 before folding.

The league has two other Canadian teams in Quebec City and Trois Rivieres, Que., along with three in the northeastern United States.

Ottawa had been trying to attract a team affiliated with a MLB franchise for years. The city had a bid from a AA-level team on the table, but it would have cost the city over $40 million to upgrade the stadium.