Looking back into the past, 1991 was a long time ago for the Saskatchewan Roughriders and for football in the province with names like Suitor, Austin, Narcisse, Elgaard and Aldag dotting the field.
It also was the last time the Roughriders last hosted a pre-season game in Saskatoon, but next spring that will all change with the team making the announcement of an exhibition game coming to Griffiths Stadium on the University of Saskatchewan campus in May of 2026.
According to Roughriders president and CEO Craig Reynolds who made the announcement on Friday, the pre-season move to Saskatoon was sparked by another team in the Toronto Argonauts having to move three of their games out of BMO Field next summer due to the 2026 FIFA World Cup.
One of those three games will be at Mosaic Stadium in Regina, giving the Roughriders a 10th regular season home date on their schedule and an opportunity to consider moving one of their pre-season home games north.
“[The University of Saskatchewan] been so gracious to host us for the last several years,” said Reynolds. “We started talking about this — wouldn’t it be great to host a game in Saskatoon at Griffiths [Stadium]? What presented itself was a great opportunity with the World Cup displacing Toronto and us putting our hand up to host that game.”
While conversations about bringing the Roughriders to Saskatoon for an exhibition game have been ongoing for years, Reynolds confirmed his first communication with the City of Saskatoon about such an event came this past winter in a meeting with Mayor Cynthia Block.
Being supported by Discover Saskatoon and various stakeholders in the community, Block said it’s a rare chance for the city to be front and centre during the CFL season.
“The Riders are deep within the culture of our city and our province, and in many ways in our country,” said Block. “I think this is an opportunity for Saskatoon to showcase that and for us to demonstrate that we are a province that bleeds green wherever we are.”
The goal is to sell roughly 10,000 tickets for the pre-season game which would be equal to some of the largest University of Saskatchewan Huskies crowds seen over the last few years including their 2023 ‘Homecoming Game’ against the University of Regina Rams.
Part of the decision to pull the trigger on the event was to give Roughriders fans in the north and central regions of the province an opportunity to see the team compete, who haven’t been able to visit Mosaic Stadium in Regina.
“We want to make sure that there’s seats available and the opportunity for fans who haven’t been to a Riders game maybe ever,” said Reynolds. “We want to make sure that we’re able to attract that next generation of fans and give them an opportunity from Saskatoon to experience Roughrider football. That’s certainly part of why we’re so keen to do this.”
Signing a three-year deal earlier this spring to keep Roughriders training camp at Griffiths Stadium through 2027, the Roughriders will be deepening their partnership with the Huskies as part of the move.
Huskies head coach Scott Flory is excited for his players to see what game day looks like at the CFL level and for former players in Nelson Lokombo, Nick Wiebe and Noah Zerr, as well as Riders prospects and current Huskies Daniel Wiebe and Seth Hundeby to be featured.
“It’s aspirational for our guys to be able to see that and to be able to see how professional organizations work,” said Flory.
“We’re more than happy to do it. I know the impact on the university, I know the impact on the city and it’s a provincial brand.”
“As a kid I was there, I was in the stands getting Slurpees dumped on me underneath the south end zone, so I get it.”
Next spring’s game will serve as an experiment of sorts, according to Reynolds, on whether Saskatoon could host pre-season games on a multi-year basis or if the 2026 edition will be a one-off.
A much smaller facility is being utilized in Saskatoon compared to the 33,000 seats available year-round at Mosaic Stadium.
“We’ll see on that one,” said Reynolds. “One of the challenges just speaking honestly is we have a very, very large season ticket base.
“We have more season tickets than ultimately capacity here, so we’re going to see how this works this year. We’re excited to try it.”
No opponent or specific date has been announced by either the CFL or the Roughriders for the game, with work continuing over the coming months to develop the league’s 2026 pre-season and regular season schedules.
However, Reynolds confirmed to media that it will more than likely be a West Divisional opponent which Flory said will only increase the enthusiasm fans will have as they await a game 35 years in the making next year.
“Our community gets to celebrate the highest level of football in this country here in this city,” said Flory. “It’s great for Saskatoon, it’s just great for everybody and we’re really excited here at University because there’s no doubt there’s benefits for us as a football program too.”
The Roughriders (7-1) also announced on Friday their Week 11 matchup against the Hamilton Tiger-Cats (6-3) has been officially sold out, with a 1 p.m. kickoff at Mosaic Stadium between the divisional leaders on Saturday.