The Saskatchewan Roughriders were able to keep a closely guarded secret in highly visible fashion.
A neat trick, that.
The dominant colour on the Rider Nation Alt Jerseys, which were unveiled on Thursday night at the Mosaic Stadium store, has actually been on display for quite some time.
“Mosaic Stadium’s lower-bowl headwalls are Obsidian Green,” noted Mark Habicht, the CFL team’s Director of Retail Operations and Licensing.
“We’ve kind of been playing our cards in plain sight.”
Another example to that effect could be found leading up to the league’s marquee event when it was held in Saskatchewan in 2022.
“We introduced the colour in the Grey Cup Festival logo because we liked it so much,” Habicht said.
From the outset, Habicht and a select group of colleagues also fancied the idea of an alternate uniform, which ultimately took more than five years to come to fruition.
The first group to discuss the topic consisted of Habicht, Craig Reynolds (President-CEO), Anthony Partipilo (the Roughriders’ Chief Brand Officer from April 2018 to March 2024) and Miriam Johnson (Director of Marketing and Fan Engagement, May 2016 to November 2021).
“The first meeting was as simple as, ‘Hey, we want to start talking about an alt jersey and an alt mark, potentially,’ ” Reynolds recalled.
“We talked about what that could potentially look like and who we would work with and what we would think about.
“Of course, right away you jump to the black. Would we look at another black jersey?”
Results-wise, there was a compelling case for being back in black.
Often in convincing fashion, Saskatchewan won seven of the nine home games during which it wore the black-based uniforms (with green numbering and lettering) over a period that encompassed Sept. 29, 2001 to Oct. 27, 2006.
“But we’ve already done black,” Reynolds said, “and we started thinking about, ‘What’s really important to the brand?’
“Green is so important to the brand, so that was paramount. The wheat sheaf is really important. And then, of course, how can we represent our fans?”
For starters, 13 kernels — a tribute to the figurative 13th Man — appear on the wheat sheaf that is part of the alt logo.
As well, RIDER NATION appears on the team’s helmet for the first time.
“All those things went through the process,” Reynolds said. “It was a matter of, ‘How do we stay true to our brand but still do something cool and a little bit different?’ ”
Enthusiasm emanating from the preliminary discussions was the impetus behind the football team reaching out to Bill Frederick, the founder and creative director of Fanbrandz.
Frederick’s expansive list of high-profile clients includes teams from throughout the sporting spectrum, including the National Football League, Major League Baseball, National Basketball Association, National Hockey League, Major League Soccer and NASCAR.
Meeting with the Roughriders, Frederick was engaged in the process, which continued to gather momentum until the COVID-19 pandemic period stopped everything in its tracks.
“In 2021, we started looking at this again,” Habicht said. “It was, ‘Fire up the band. We’re bringing this thing back.’
“As we did that, we kept holding the secret while slowly expanding the circle of trust.”
Eventually, every department in the organization was involved — marketing, graphic design, retail, partnerships, IT, stadium operations, ticketing, communications, human resources, finance, administration and football operations.
“From the largest, full-screen extravaganzas to the smallest, but so important, details, it was a Herculean effort,” Habicht marvelled.
“These things become passion projects. When you do something like this, you want to do it right and you want to take some time. There are so many details to think of and so many moving pieces.”
Partipilo can relate. He played a key role in a Toronto Blue Jays rebrand (launched in 2012) during the 12 years he spent with the MLB team.
“There were a lot of similarities,” he said. “I went through a tremendous amount of discovery, pain, excitement and challenges in getting agreements when the Blue Jays uniforms and Blue Jays logo were being developed. And they do take a toll on you.
“I knew I was going to be going through a similar exercise here. It wasn’t as intense as the Blue Jays experience, I would say, because in their case Major League Baseball weighed in a lot on the decisions. But it definitely had some similarities.
“For example, there were times when it didn’t look like we were going to get to where we needed to go, and we overcame that obstacle. We had that here, with the colour Obsidian.”
Obsidian, for the uninitiated, is the darkest shade of green that isn’t black. The football team’s latest alternate look also incorporates Emerald Green (a much lighter shade) and the traditional Rider Green.
“The colour Obsidian came from a deep desire not to change colours, but to double down,” Partipilo explained.
“Green is our colour, so we went out and found the darkest shade of green — one that, by the way, didn’t exist until we created it.
“No other team has it. The Michigan State Spartans have a dark green, but it’s not as dark as this.
“What you see today is really a desire for the Roughriders to not only own green, but also own a unique green that nobody else has.”
“Saskatchewan has one of a kind,” Partipilo continued. “We don’t have a duplicate of something else. We have developed our own identity — which we had, but in this case it’s a brand identity.
“It’s a brand pyramid of logos and marks and colours that really own the colour green.
“Rider Nation is lifted out of the stands. It is truly bringing the team and the fans together and uniting them as one.”
One bond. Two possible interpretations of Obsidian Green.
“The jersey fabric has been able to achieve something very unique,” Partipilo said. “At different times, your eyes can see it as a different colour.
“When the players are in the tunnel and it’s dark, it looks like they’re wearing black uniforms. As soon as they hit the light and the sun bounces off the uniform, the green pops.
“It’s an actual illusion. The green is there, but what really sets it off is the sunlight.”
Such is the foundation for even brighter days ahead.
“There’s a combination of expectation and excitement for the future of this team,” Partipilo said.
“It feels like the legacy has been established for the future of the team to really connect with a younger, new, up-and-coming audience.”
The alternate uniforms will be unveiled to the masses on July 19, when the Roughriders play host to the Winnipeg Blue Bombers in the Green is the Colour Game.
This season, the players will also sport the new look on Oct. 26 against the Calgary Stampeders, during the annual Fan Appreciation event.
“There’s a fresh aura around the team and maybe this will help to energize the fan base and get them excited about the new logo,” quarterback Trevor Harris, resplendent in the new uniform, said in an interview he conducted before acquiring Rider Nation Alt merchandise for his three young sons.
“To me, it’s a really cool add-on to what we already have going this year.”
The process keeps going for Habicht, despite the climactic vibe that was part of Thursday night’s announcement to a by-invitation-only audience.
“I’ve been keeping a secret for five-plus years,” he reflected. “I’m going to have some family members that aren’t very happy with me.
“It feels kind of weird to finally have it out there, but it’s also really exciting.
“It’s kind of like the end of Phase 1 and the beginning of Phase 2, so here we go.”
