SOCCER FANS REVVED UP
International game set for July
Though the new Mosaic Stadium is home of the Saskatchewan Roughriders, this summer it will host an international soccer event.
Spain’s Valencia CF and the New York Cosmos will play in a “friendly” game on July 22, as the Riders are away in Calgary.
Soccer is Saskatchewan’s secondfastest-growing sport, and the new stadium may see more futbol games in the years to come.
While there aren’t a lot of events that can draw 20,000 or 30,000 people, Evraz Place CEO Mark Allan said his team will continue to explore its options as it operates and schedules programming for the new stadium.
A partial-bowl concert could cut the crowd in half, opening up the possibilities. In any case, stadium events will mostly consist of soccer games and concerts (like the two that have already been scheduled for this summer).
On May 27, Bryan Adams, Our Lady Peace and Johnny Reid will share the bill.
Exactly three months later, Guns N’ Roses will perform at the stadium. The three big events have been announced in relatively quick succession.
“We’ve been pretty ambitious in our opening year to try all these different things, but we also are interested in learning in the first year about what works and what the community would like,” Allan said.
“Still maybe some possibilities later in the fall, but we haven’t got anything in the hopper right now.”
There are an estimated 15,000 soccer enthusiasts in each of Regina and Saskatoon, including children and parents involved in the minor leagues, who could be in the stands for the July 22 game.
“This is what was envisioned right from the beginning with the stadium. It’s multi-sport, it’s able to accommodate soccer, it’s able to accommodate baseball,” Parks, Culture and Sport Minister Ken Cheveldayoff said.
“We’ve thought about this from the very beginning,” said Mayor Michael Fougere.
“We’ll demonstrate to the world that we can actually fill the stadium for soccer … the fan base is here, so we suspect this is the beginning of hopefully more events like this .... The possibilities are endless.”
John Graham of Toronto-based On Ice Management Group is promoting the Regina soccer game.
He has brought 12 NHL preseason games to Saskatoon since 2009.
“When I see a promoter like John Graham, who could choose anywhere else in North America to have this game … and he chooses Regina ... that bodes well for the future,” said Cheveldayoff.
“When I came down and saw the stadium … it really made a lot of sense to look around,” said Graham, who has been planning this game for the past two months.
While he is impressed by the new stadium, he said the people of Saskatchewan are the main driver for hosting events here.
He has plans in the province for 2018 and ’19.
“At the end of the day, they’re sort of mortar and bricks and all that; it’s the people,” said Graham.
“I’ve done events across the country and I’ve always said the feeling of involvement from the governments in Saskatchewan are why we keep coming back.”
Graham said the game is a way of “tell(ing) Europe it’s here.”
A representative from each team briefly spoke in a phone call broadcast at Tuesday morning’s news conference, but technical difficulties meant imagining much of what they said.
Valencia marketing director Damia Vidagany, quoted in a news release, said the team is “eagerly looking forward” to its first visit to Canada.
Cosmos’ chief operating officer Erik Stover said the stadium is “absolutely fabulous.”
Tickets go on sale Friday at 10 a.m. at ticketmaster.ca and the Brandt Centre box office.
Club access to the presale, which starts Wednesday, is at evrazplace.com. Ticket prices range from $22 to $66, plus fees.