Saskatchewan Roughriders' president and CEO Craig Reynolds shares insight into the frenzy as everyone in Rider Nation purchases Grey Cup merchandise after the Green and White defeated the Montreal Alouettes 25-17 in Winnipeg.
"I'll give you a fact. On the Monday after the Grey Cup, we won on the 16th, so it's Monday the 17th, we were selling a championship hat, either in store here or at Saskatoon or online, every 12 seconds," Reynolds said on the SportsCage.
"That's what we were moving on the Monday afterwards and it really hasn't slowed down. I was there on Sunday, picking up a couple of things for Christmas, I couldn't believe it, I was there shortly after opening, it was packed."
There was one other time Reynolds has seen that type of urgency for merchandise, which was when the Riders released their obsidian green jerseys.
"We saw this when we launched the obsidian, they'd be taking stuff out of the boxes, fans would be grabbing it. The same things are happening right now with some champs merchandise, where they're literally trying to unpack, fans are grabbing it and heading to the tills. It's been outstanding," Reynolds said.
"We actually thought the obsidian line might slow down this year because it was launched last year, but it hasn't been the case; it's continued to go guns a blazing. We're already ahead of last year's merchandise sales, which were the strongest we've had since our centennial."
Besides talking about the Riders merchandise success, Reynolds touched on the unveiling of the new CFL schedule for the 2026 season.
"Having 10 regular-season home games is pretty unique and special, one being the away game against the Argos where we're the home team," Reynolds explained.
"Pre-season game in Saskatoon, I've been super pumped about that since we announced. We've wanted to do that for a long time. Hosting an Argo game here allowed us to do that."
The Toronto Argonauts are the home team in Saskatchewan on Friday, June 26 due to the FIFA World Cup taking over BMO Field, which means the Double Blue will not be able to use their stadium. Toronto will go to Regina then Winnipeg (July 10) and Hamilton (July 18) and will be the home team for those games.
The Riders wait for a Grey Cup rematch with the Alouettes until Week 19 and 20 as Saskatchewan plays a home-and-home set with Montreal.
"This version of the schedule was actually completed before the Grey Cup. We didn't know at the time that we were going to be playing against Montreal in the Grey Cup and then have that back-to-back," Reynolds said.
"I believe the first stretch of that is in Montreal for Thanksgiving, they get a really good crowd, it's a big deal, the Thanksgiving Monday game in Montreal. It's gonna be cool to be part of that."
