REGINA — When the Saskatchewan Roughriders won the Grey Cup this past November, once of the first orders of planning post-victory was how the team was going to turn it all into a province-wide celebration.
And so the Grey Cup Community Tour was born. Players from the championship-winning squad took the trophy all around Saskatchewan, making stops just about anywhere they could in the six months after their epic victory.
That tour ended up being extremely special to everyone involved, including Roughriders CEO Craig Reynolds, who joined the Voice of the Riders Dave Thomas on Thursday afternoon to talk about the Grey Cup celebrations and what’s ahead for the home opener on Saturday night.
The first order of business was Humboldt, where Reynolds and members of the team met with the Broncos organization in what was a “pretty special moment”. From there, well, the tour went everywhere, as Reynolds explained.
“We really wanted to get it to all four corners, that was our goal,” he said. “We wanted to get it up north and up to Meadow Lake and that area. When we plotted it out and we looked at where it had been and the list, and then you look at it on a Saskatchewan map, it really hit all four corners of the province.We had so many players who committed their time to go out there with it. It was great, just to get as many people to see that Cup and share in that moment with us was pretty special.”
The tour gave the team a true sense of just how much the Roughriders mean to Saskatchewan, even surprising a lifelong-resident of the province like Reynolds at times.
“Anywhere you walked with that Cup, it never ceased to amaze me,” he said. “Anytime I got to have it personally or with a group, you walk in any place with that Cup, and people are just amazed by it. It's a big moment for them and for us to share it with them. Those are the things that will always stand out from the offseason.”
The Roughriders will finally turn the page on 2025 once and for all on Saturday night at Mosaic Stadium, when the first Grey Cup banner since 2013 is unveiled during a special pre-game ceremony.
“[It’ll be] very, very cool,” Reynolds said. “They walked me through the plans for the first time yesterday, actually, and it was one of those ones where you get goosebumps. You think about the crowd response that's likely to happen… we’ve only done it four times and now we’ll do it a fifth time, the first time at the new stadium as well. It's going to be a special, special moment. I think what the team has planned for it is pretty neat…This is with Rider Nation, with 30,000 people. It's going to be really cool.”
As for how things will look at Rider games overall this season, the team has made wholesale changes to the pre-game experience.
The first is turning Confederation Park into Riderland Park, which will be a completely family-friendly stop off for folks looking for something to do prior to the contest.
“That park is always a great spot pre-game, but we've really focused in on making it family-friendly and kid-friendly,” Reynolds said. “Tons of inflatables, and we've got some new stuff coming for Saturday. There will be new stuff introduced throughout the rest of the year, but really getting a family focus on that.”
And, of course, perhaps one of the most popular moves in recent history with the introduction of the brand new tailgating area.
A total of 200 spots will be available, with each having a parking stall for their vehicle and a second one to set up barbecues, picnic tables, lawn chairs and all the other well-known pieces of a fan-run pre-game party.
“Then on top of that, the whole area is open to pedestrians, so if Kevin's got a spot and you want to go see if he'll cook you up a hamburger or buy you a beer, you just walk on in and head to Kevin's tailgate spot and enjoy the atmosphere with him,” Reynolds explained. “So we’re really looking forward to how Rider Nation makes it their own, because we know they're a very creative bunch.”
Ideally, tailgating will become an unmissable tradition at Mosaic Place, as it is in so many stadiums down south.
“Hopefully it becomes something where those tailgate spots get passed on from generation to generation, like season tickets do,” Reynolds said. “Let’s hope it’s the start of a great new Rider tradition.”
As for what he’s seen from the team on the field in the pre-season and through training camp, Reynolds joins many onlookers in predicting big things for the team this season.
“I feel really confident with the group we got leading us, and that gives me comfort in my role,” he said. “Specifically, that's [general manager] Jeremy [O’Day], and that's certainly [head coach] Corey Mace, and the culture they've set, the standard they set. And then our veteran leadership, starting with our quarterback, Trevor [Harris], but on defense, Jameer [Thurman]… there’s just tons of great leaders on our team who sort of set that standard. So I'm excited. New season, that's what's exciting about Saturday.”
Kickoff on Saturday against the B.C. Lions is set for 5 p.m., and you can catch the Rider Broadcast Network pregame show at 2 p.m. followed by the game call with Dave Thomas and Luc Mullinder at kickoff.
