A new building played a big part in what the Saskatchewan Roughriders were building in 2017.
Roughriders president-CEO Craig Reynolds says the year was “very positive” for the CFL franchise, thanks largely to the team’s move into new Mosaic Stadium.
Saskatchewan, which shifted its operations from historic Mosaic Stadium to the new $278-million stadium in February, played its first home regular-season game on Canada Day.
By the end of the season, the Roughriders had led the league in attendance — and had given Rider Nation a new place to call home.
“The opening of this stadium was so well-received by our fans and it was recognized across the league as a real jewel,” Reynolds says as he reflects on 2017. “The energy you saw here on game day brought by our fans was just incredible. To see them enjoy the experience, and to see our team feed off that, was pretty exciting for us.”
Before the stadium opened, the Roughriders had to transfer their supporters from the team’s previous home to its new digs.
Reynolds calls it “the biggest season-ticket-holder transition in Canadian sports history” and credits the fans for their patience and understanding and the members of the Roughriders’ ticketing team for their efforts in the endeavour.
But while the Roughriders’ move may have gone smoothly, there were some hiccups at the stadium.
A smoking hot day in July led to complaints from some fans that the stadium didn’t have enough water fountains, and a freezing cold day in November forced the closure of a section of seats due to an accumulation of snow on the roof above.
The Roughriders and their partners in the operation of the stadium learned their lessons as the season progressed and tried to iron out the wrinkles. As Reynolds puts it: “Sometimes you need something to happen so you can understand how to address that going forward and how you make sure it doesn’t happen again.”
The organization polled fans during the season to find out what issues they were having. That, as well as other feedback, allowed the Roughriders to address the patrons’ concerns and to try to improve their game-day experience.
The goal for 2018 is to enhance that experience even more.
“As much as we planned as an organization and mapped out the year and some of the fan-experience things, we didn’t know what we didn’t know as it related to the stadium and how to utilize the stadium,” Reynolds says. “As the season went on, you saw us try some different things. I think most of them worked and our fans responded.
“I think back to the blackout game (Oct. 27 against the Montreal Alouettes). We were able to shut off the lights for the players’ entrance and that was really neat — something we couldn’t do at the old stadium. We learned some things, so we’ll look to enhance those types of things, try some different things and leverage the stadium even more.
“We’ve got a year to go through, so we’ll take a look at some of the things that didn’t work and maybe make some minor tweaks.”
In Reynolds’ mind, some areas of the fan experience don’t require any alteration at all.
He admits he was surprised at the level of social engagement at the stadium, as fans took advantage of the concourse to walk around the facility during games and to watch from spots other than their own seats.
For him, the best part of the stadium in 2017 was the atmosphere inside it.
“Combining our fans with some of the great features of the stadium — and their excitement level of being in a great stadium like this — really led to some great energy,” says Reynolds, whose team sold out its pre-season game and its first seven regular-season contests.
“The other thing I really enjoyed about the stadium was the social aspect. Pil Country really took off as a fun, standing-room-only area where people were having fun the whole game. Every once in a while, you’d look up in the stands and see empty seats, but those people were still in the stadium; they just were experiencing it in a different way than they ever had.”
The 2017 Roughriders performed in a different way than the 2015 and 2016 teams, both of which missed the playoffs.
Saskatchewan went 10-8-0 in the 2017 regular season — an improvement of five wins over the previous campaign — and qualified for the post-season. The Roughriders crossed over into the East Division playoffs and beat the Ottawa Redblacks in the division semifinal before falling to the Toronto Argonauts in the East final.
Reynolds was pleased with the team’s year-to-year improvement, but he realizes the Roughriders didn’t attain the ultimate result.
“You’re never satisfied if you’re not holding the championship trophy at the end of the season; that’s why we do this,” he says. “It’s right in our vision statement that we’re a championship organization. That’s why Chris (Jones, head coach-GM) and his football operations staff put every ounce of energy they have into building a championship football team.
“While there was credible progression, certainly we fell short of our goal. We also have to have sub-goals and one of those is to host home playoff games. Those help you in your quest to win a championship.”
Reynolds believes the CFL as a whole also had a good year, capped by an impressive Grey Cup week in Ottawa. Changes to the challenge system made games more watchable for fans, as did improved talent in some markets.
The gate-driven league still has issues in a couple of its outposts — attendances in B.C. and Toronto remain a concern — so the off-season focus at CFL headquarters is on getting people to attend games instead of just staying at home and watching on TV.
That requires a favourable in-stadium experience, which the Roughriders believe they can already deliver. A louder Mosaic Stadium could in turn help Saskatchewan improve on its 5-4-0 home record from 2017.
“We honestly believe we’ve got a competitive advantage here thanks to our fans,” Reynolds says. “Certainly, we want to win more home games. We want to establish this as a place that is very tough to come into and get a win.”
