In Saskatchewan, just about everything carries a Roughriders logo - panties, barbecue branding irons, pet clothes, mugs - yet each day, Steve Mazurak gets another suggestion from a fan. The Roughriders' vice-president of sales and marketing says appreciatively that everyone thinks he has the best idea and that it should hit the market right now.
And what a market it is. Last season, Roughriders' merchandise generated $7. 1-million in revenue at three stores alone - two in Regina, one in Saskatoon. That total includes brisk Internet sales but excludes sales from retail stores across the province and around Canada.
A dozen years after confronting bankruptcy and possible extinction, the publicly owned CFL franchise recently announced an annual profit of $3.1- million for 2009, the result of sold-out games, strong sponsorship and booming merchandise sales. As the Roughriders celebrate their 100th anniversary with a game against Edmonton on Saturday, the team's cultural and economic standing in the province is stronger than ever.
Saskatchewan Premier Brad Wall sat for an interview about the Roughriders while wearing the jersey of veteran offensive lineman Gene Makowsky.
"I just came back from camping near Swift Current and you would be surprised how many campsites have Rider stuff," Wall said. "Flags, barbecue covers that look just like a jersey. ... They now have [logos on] valve-stem covers for your car. The fact that these things are popular and selling is a manifestation of something much bigger."
Roughrider merchandise outsells the other seven CFL teams' combined.
Some 8,600 branded automobile licence plates have been sold this year. Soon Roughrider fans will be able to get a fix at breakfast by reaching for Fantuz Flakes, a cereal named for Roughrider receiver Andy Fantuz, to be sold in Co-op grocery stores only in Saskatchewan. We knew there was great opportunity here, but the numbers just astound us sometimes," Roughrider president Jim Hopson said. "But it's tied to the performance of the team as well, we know that. Good team, good marketing, good products, they all go together."
The Roughriders have reached two of the past three Grey Cup games, their success on the field matched by the province's natural-resource-fuelled economic uptick.
On game days, Rider gear is treated like religious dress code.
"We laugh and say it's socially unacceptable to wear anything but green to a game," Mazurak said. "I'd say it's about 98-per-cent green. It is a sea of green and it's wonderful to the eye."
And it extends outside the park.
"We started lifting the [television] blackouts and people were able to plan their weekend or social activity around the Rider game," Hopson said. "So usually it became a social event, and if you're going to watch the game, you better have gear."
Because there are Rider fans scattered around Canada, attendance at games bounces upward wherever Saskatchewan plays. Last season, eight of TSN's 10 highest-rated regular-season telecasts involved Saskatchewan, and the Grey Cup game between Saskatchewan and Montreal earned the highest ratings ever.
"They say McMahon Stadium [in Calgary] becomes Saskatchewan's third largest city every time the Riders are there and it's probably not far off the truth," Wall said. "We hear from expats, you see them around the league. There's melonheads everywhere the Riders show up, and I think it's part of what ties Saskatchewan people together no matter where we live."
All the success has the Riders thinking big away from the field as well. The team is awaiting word on government funding for a new multipurpose facility to replace aging Mosaic Stadium, one that could have a retractable roof at a cost of more than $400-million.
In the meantime, the Riders keep churning out wins, gear and profit.
"It's been tremendous for us," Hopson said. "The big concern is, will you hit a point where the market is saturated, and to this point we haven't. In fact, we had a great June."
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