Rider fever is definitely in the air. Especially seeing that today marks the time for the season opener; the Riders are slated to face the Tiger-Cats tonight at 7 PM EST. (By the time this article was published, the game was already played…the Riders coming out on top 30-13). But despite the excitement from fans, attendance doesn’t seem to be hitting an all-time high apparently, and fans are stating that has a lot to do with the high ticket prices.

Inflation and the rising price of gas and groceries has hit a lot of households and apparently this is causing many to be a tad more selective in terms of what they spend their hard-earned dollars and cents on.

Long-time Riders fan, Bridget Veiszer, who has held season tickets in seasons past, stated recently that she had to give them up and all because they’ve risen astronomically in price.

“The prices just went up too much…My tickets were about $1,300. Now they’re adding this tax on to them, and then there’s the prices at the concessions: they went up to $9 for a beer…

I have friends that drive in from Saskatoon. I can’t even imagine the gas that they spent, and I don’t think they’re going to come to all the games…With gas prices, I can’t imagine the games this year are going to be full at all…

It does bring down the morale. Our stands look like B.C. or Calgary. When you see them on TV, they’re just empty…I couldn’t imagine a family bringing in and having to, you know, keep their kids with drinks at those prices…Maybe change the rest so that people can make it more affordable.”

via Regina Leader-Post

For the pre-season game on May 31^st the stands were pretty much empty and the sales for the opener are pretty bad as well, apparently.

The Riders organization states that they had lowered prices in 2021, and according to Twitter user, Rob Vanstone, “5,541 seats were unsold for the Riders’ season opener,” as of this writing.

The team is aware that prices may be too high for some fans. We’ll keep you posted if anything changes, dear readers.

Duke Williams Claims Riders Have Best CFL Receiving Corps

Williams had some very flattering words for the Saskatchewan Roughriders Receiving Corps—a team he is of course a proud player for. Here’s some of what he had to say on the matter:

“In my eyes, we’re the best…(People) can take it how they want to take it. If you’re not the best at what you do, then what are you doing it for? That’s how I look at everything. I feel like we’re the best. We can talk about it, but we’ve got to be about it at the same time.”

via Regina Leader-Post

Williams is slated to play his first complete season with the Riders if all goes well. He’s bounced around a tad, but seems very happy within the ranks of the team.

Included in the receiving corps for the Riders are of course Shaq Evans and a troop of others all with equally impressive stats. All things considered, the receiving corps is impressive, but in the end, the proof is in the pudding.

A few are returning from injuries—Evans included—who had an impressive 2019 but missed most of 2021 because of multiple injuries. Here’s to an epic start for the Riders tonight, dear readers.

NEXT: Riders Make Surprising Cuts Ahead Of Saturday’s Season Opener Against Ti-Cats—Regina’s Nicholas Dheilly Gets A Shot To Fight For The Home Team