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It was raised as a possibility last year and this year the Riders made it official… tailgating is coming to Saskatchewan. Well, legal tailgating. This is the prairies… people tailgate their kids’ sports games.
Season ticket holders are eligible to enter a lottery from which they will randomly draw the lucky people who will get one of the limited tailgating spots (consisting of 2 parking spots). Oh yeah and you have to pay $500 for the season.
Now many people are mad about the $500 fee. Maybe I have just become too used to the current state of things but I honestly expected more gouging. Look, free was never going to be an option. If the Riders can’t make money on something they are not going to put effort into it. The only reason we don’t have toll bathrooms in Mosaic is because Reynolds hasn’t discovered an efficient way to monetize it yet. I actually assumed they would sell individual games because I guarantee they could have made $500 per spot just for Labour Day. Also you can’t charge for parking but let people tailgate for free (which is essentially just parking with benefits).
My name is in the lottery… mostly our of sheer curiosity. I want to see how this is going to go. Because done right, this could be an awesome addition to the game day atmosphere. But done wrong this could add all the energy a senior’s group going camping (and not the fun seniors, the ones who call the park rangers when kids are running in the road).
I fully expect year 1 of tailgating to be super lame (not my spot, you’ll hear a bit later how awesome I plan to be). Its going to take some time for people to figure this all out and I guarantee it will be over-policed at the start. You as a fan may want us to be like Buffalo. Those organizing this want it more like a church bake sale. So there will be a feeling out process as fans test the limits of what will fly.
For example, without some kind of security what would stop me from bringing back happy hour myself and selling $5 beers out of my cooler as for-profit business venture for myself? Or running a pancake breakfast for afternoon games? The Riders are already very begrudgingly entering tailgating despite the potential for it to cut into their food and booze sales. They aren’t going to let me compete against them. At least I assume not. Can I play a friendly game of cornhole with passers-by? Maybe. Can bring a pro-level cornhole buddy and hustle people by playing for cash? Maybe not. Do I need to run an illegal casino operation to profit from drunks and gambling degenerates to enjoy game day? No. But if they’ll let me without consequence it’s an option. Can I blast AC/DC on my stereo? Maybe. Can I blast DMX? We’ll see. We are going to have feel this dynamic out.
As I said, early on I think they will lean heavy on enforcement and it will take until late this season and even into year 2 or 3 people things stabilize and it starts to get really fun.
As for my plans if I get a spot? It will be the place to be… probably for fans and security alike.
I won’t be selling beer (wink) or running and illegal casino (wink, wink). But I will be running game shows like Family Feud and Rider Jeopardy. Running theme nights… actual original ones that involve more creativity than asking Chat GPT for an alternate way to say Country Night. If they let me tailgate I can assure you by year 2 there will be at least two new rules that I can point to and say its because of me that’s a rule now.
Honestly if they want to make
tailgating awesome they should do away with the lottery and have people submit
video applications like on a reality TV. Let people vote on the ones that will
give the best party atmosphere.
