The majority of Saskatchewan Roughrider season ticket holders will be paying more once the team has transitioned over into the new Mosaic Stadium.
The football club announced the pricing strategy for fans Thursday morning.
Those with tickets in five of the six tiers will pay more once the Riders move into the stadium in 2017. Most will pay about three per cent more for 11 home games, including a playoff game. However, those in the highest tier will pay about 10 per cent more. For some, that translates into roughly $160 more per season.
You can find the map showing new season ticket prices on the new Mosaic Stadium website.
The team’s president and CEO, Craig Reynolds, noted that there are not price increases across the board. The lowest tier will actually see a drop in price for season tickets by about seven per cent.
“We think it’s going to be an outstanding facility and with that, I think there is a little bit of expectation around price increases,” he said. “What we came up with here was a variety of options and a number of price points that we think will satisfy each fan.”
Reynolds added the organization wanted to price tickets as such to try and ensure sellouts. He predicts the team’s pricing will still be below average at every one of their tiers compared with other teams in the CFL.
The $278-million stadium will have more washrooms and concessions than the current stadium, along with a roof and individualized seats.
There are also incentives for ticket holders who renew early.
Single game tickets will range between $32 and $98.
As far as the seating transition process, the Riders are placing ticket holders into 10 different zones. Fans will be contacted through email based on their zone, along with their seniority – that is, how long they’ve been a season ticket holder.
You can find the map of the zones at the new Mosaic Stadium website.
“This will be the largest season ticket holder movement in Canadian sports history. We’re going to move over 24,000 season ticket holders over to the new stadium,” explained Reynolds.
“I think for us the fairest way was to approach it in terms of where do you currently sit in the stadium and we’re going to try to put you as close to that spot as we possibly can.”
He said there will be discussions with season ticket holders around flexibility if they want to move seats or if they want to be around their fellow and familiar Rider fans they sit next to in the current stadium; what Reynolds refers to as “Rider families”.
The process will begin in April and take about a year to complete.