Questions surround cancelled NFL contest
Surely any problems with Raiders-packers contest at Mosaic could be overcome
So much for Raider Pride.
A proposed NFL pre-season game for Mosaic Stadium — a contest that would have featured the Oakland Raiders and Green Bay Packers — is seemingly a no-go. But why?
There are two versions. John Gormley said on his eponymous CJME-CKOM talk show Tuesday morning that the Saskatchewan Roughriders played a key role in blocking the event — pushing for a silver-and-blackout, as it were.
Not so, countered the Roughriders, who issued a media release regarding the matter on Tuesday afternoon.
According to the CFL team, the NFL game was to be played on the evening of Aug. 23. That timing presented logistical challenges, considering that the Roughriders are to play host to the Ottawa Redblacks on Aug. 24 at 5 p.m.
So, within 24 hours, the playing surface would have had to be converted from NFL to CFL dimensions, with the additional imperative of moving the goalposts at a stadium that is located on the expansive Evraz Place grounds.
“The Riders, along with the Canadian Football League, identified significant risks that the stadium would not be set to provide an outstanding game experience for fans, Club sponsors and the league’s broadcast partner in the short turnaround time allotted,” the Roughriders’ statement said.
(Anyone who watched the Roughriders’ offence in 2018 is painfully familiar with the turnover issues. Onwards ...)
“The Saskatchewan Roughrider Football Club continues to be supportive of all events that promote Canada’s premier outdoor stadium,” the statement continued. “The Club would openly support potential alternative dates that did not pose significant risk to previously scheduled Roughrider games and that would work for all parties.”
Evraz Place president and CEO Tim Reid leaped to the Roughriders’ defence, issuing a written statement of his own.
“As has been suggested, we have been in discussions with an external promoter on the potential of hosting an NFL football game at Mosaic Stadium in Regina,” Reid said, offering the first confirmation that such negotiations had indeed taken place.
"I can say with absolute clarity that the Saskatchewan Roughriders have been collaborative throughout this process and supportive of our organization in bringing great events to our community as we explore opportunities to program Mosaic Stadium.
“As with any organization looking to rent space at Mosaic Stadium, a contract is necessary. At this point, I can confirm we do not have a contract in place for an NFL game, and I strongly dispute any suggestion that the Saskatchewan Roughriders have acted as a barrier in this process.”
As of Tuesday afternoon, an unidentified promoter still had a “hold on the venue for that week,” according to Paula Kohl, Evraz Place’s director of marketing and communications.
Does the existence of a hold allow for a glimmer of hope? Would such an event have to be held on a Friday? NFL exhibition games on Thursdays are routine.
If the scheduling does pose a “significant risk,” and in the event that timing is the only impediment, why not simply hold the game a day earlier? Problem solved?
Also, considering the magnitude and novelty of a Regina-based NFL pre-season game, could any measures have been taken to reduce or eliminate the “significant risk”?
And what, exactly, constitutes a “significant risk”?
Keep in mind, too, that “significant” doesn’t necessarily mean “insurmountable.”
The Roughriders’ very existence demonstrates that nothing can be written off as impossible.
They are the once-impoverished small-market franchise that became a CFL powerhouse.
Two of their icons — quarterbacks Ron Lancaster and Darian Durant — were also too small to succeed, according to the skeptics. They overcame doubts that were, to use the word of the day, significant.
So why is the emphasis on risks instead of rewards?
Mosaic Stadium is, by all accounts and descriptions, a world-class, state-of-the-art facility — one that is surely more adaptable than dear old Taylor Field.
A visit by the Raiders (see: Antonio Brown) and Packers (hello there, Aaron Rodgers) would have provided an delicious opportunity to showcase the stadium, the city and the province.
So why not mobilize everyone, and everything, to ensure that a rapid-fire conversion of the stadium could take place?
Or is that completely impractical and unrealistic?
Such were the unanswered — and perhaps unanswerable — questions as the sun set on a Tuesday.
I strongly dispute any suggestion that the Saskatchewan Roughriders have acted as a barrier.