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The early off-field success of the Redblacks would appear to back up Hodgson’s number crunching.

In his book, the self-described “jock-economist” analyzed a number of big picture economic issues in the NHL, NFL, CFL and Major League Baseball, showing why some teams succeed and others fail.

“I finally wrote down what I thought,” Hodgson said in an interview Wednesday. “You can analyze sports the same way as stock markets. But people here have lots of choice and what I’ve also observed here is that you better win.”

While Hunt finds the book intriguing — “it’s interesting an economist would take such an interest” — people who own sports franchises do so for reasons beyond making money.

Hunt, who began his foray into the Ottawa sports market by purchasing the Ottawa 67’s, says his interest was sparked when former Ottawa Rough Riders kicker Gerry Organ visited his high school in Newfoundland in 1979. He says that when a team is having success it can become “the emotional compass of a community.” He was talking about the feeling in Montreal during the Canadiens recent playoff run and when the Senators made the Stanley Cup final in 2007.

He’s now hoping the Redblacks can become a significant part of the community. The high season ticket totals shows that the team is enjoying an early honeymoon.

If there’s one dark cloud, it’s that the re-launch of CFL football could be delayed because of the labour fight between the league and its players.

Hunt, who has attended every day of Redblacks training camp, isn’t saying anything publicly on the subject.

“The process is that the league is speaking for all the teams,” Hunt said. “I just hope we get something worked out soon. We don’t talk about it with the players. I’ve developed some relationships with some of the players already and they’re great guys, but we just keep that topic off-limits.”