Grey Cup tops Riders’ 110th birthday wish list
Hosting the CFL title game could cap ‘year-long party’ in Regina, says CEO
The Saskatchewan Roughriders are hoping to celebrate a victory off the field.
The CFL team will have to top any rival bids that surface if it is to stage the 2020 Grey Cup, with the result to be known later this year or in early 2019.
“It is a true bid process,” Roughriders president and CEO Craig Reynolds said Wednesday. “I think in the past, you looked at rotations and you looked at how long it had been since you hosted the Grey Cup and who would be interested and what the milestone moments were. Those things were sort of all factored in, but you didn’t actually put forth a bid that was necessarily evaluated. You were just awarded the Grey Cup, I would say. Now it’s a true bid.”
This year’s Grey Cup game is to be played Nov. 25 in Edmonton. The 2019 Grey Cup is earmarked for Calgary. As it stands, the Roughriders are the only team that has declared its intention to pursue the 2020 event, but it would not be surprising to see other candidates step forward.
Grey Cups have previously been held in Regina in 1995, 2003 and 2013. Most recently, the Roughriders defeated the Hamilton Tigercats 45-23 in the 101st Grey Cup game, played on Taylor Field. The team moved into new Mosaic Stadium last year.
“First and foremost, we want to showcase the stadium,” Reynolds said. “Those who have been there know how fantastic it is. As teams visit and we do tours and those types of things, people appreciate what a jewel we have here, so we want to showcase that nationally and internationally through the Grey Cup. You don’t want to wait too long because we opened it in 2017 and 2020 will be three years.
“One of the bigger factors is our anniversary and that tie-in to our 110th anniversary (in 2020). There’s the ability to celebrate all year long and then have that culminating with the Grey Cup game and the Grey Cup festival. We just think we could create a year-long party.”
That will be a point of emphasis once the formal bid presentations are made.
“For us, it’s telling that story,” Reynolds said. “It’s telling the 110th anniversary. It’s telling the quality of the world-class stadium that we have and it’s talking about the facilities in Regina and specifically the Evraz Place site.
“In our research, it would be the first time ever that we planned to host absolutely every Grey Cup event on one site where the stadium is. So you would go to that Grey Cup festival and you would have everything there. You can do that now with the facilities they have there, like the new International Trade Centre, which is fantastic.
“It’s a unique opportunity. It’s about telling a story and about actually winning a bid. The league will evaluate how it’s elevating that signature game.”
The Roughriders have left their signature on previous Reginabased Grey Cups due to the widespread community involvement and enthusiasm.
“One of the strengths of our bid — and I saw this first-hand in 2013 — is the volunteerism that comes out and the volunteer leadership that comes out and the ideas that come out of that,” Reynolds said.
“Smarter people than me have sat around the table and come up with some ideas, but we’ve got even smarter people that we would engage once we were successful.”
Considering the newness of the stadium, the Roughriders felt it would be smart not to bid for another Grey Cup too quickly.
“Obviously, you don’t want to host it in your first year because you’re just figuring the stadium out,” Reynolds said. “You don’t even want to host it in your second year because you’re trying to improve on your stadium experience and you’re trying to get the kinks out.
“In the third year, you might think about hosting it, but there were a number of reasons why we didn’t feel that was the right thing. By the fourth year, that stadium is all ready and rockin’ and rollin’ and it will be rockin’ and rollin’ even more.
“For us, (2020) was the year. It was the 110th (anniversary) and it was, ‘OK, we feel good about where we’re at with the stadium.’”
For us, (2020) was the year. It was the 110th (anniversary of the Roughriders) and it was, ‘OK, we feel good about where we’re at with the stadium.’