Photo: Brandon Kendel, of Game on Sports, poses with a Rob Bagg jersey during a busy Wednesday. Rider gear is flying off the shelves in anticipation of the Grey Cup Sunday. – Colin Budd Photo
There’s sure to be a lot of green around town as Grey Cup weekend approaches.
“It was Monday in Lloyd in the mall, it was Christmas in our store,” said Game On Sports manager Janet Stucka describing how busy their location has been. “It will be until they quit winning.”
Game On is the official supplier of Edmonton Eskimos gear in the city, but during regular times, the Green and White merchandise outsells Green and Gold at about a 7:1 ratio. You throw in a playoff run and Roughriders’ merchandise is getting difficult to keep on the shelves.
“It’s consistently Riderville,” said Stucka. “The momentum started picking up when the Riders played in Edmonton in September and it’s just been building from there. The week prior to the Western Final was insane.”
She said at this rate, they will be out of their year’s supply of most of their merchandise – with the exception of jerseys – by Grey Cup on Sunday. Everything from toques to hoodies to shirts are dwindling in merchandise.
“We never make it to Christmas on a good year,” said Stucka. “It’s a phenomenon. There’s nobody like (Rider fans), they’re fun, they’re friendly, they certainly support us extremely well and we’re grateful for that. No one supports a pro sports team like Riders’ fans.”
Stucka said the Andy Fantuz, Weston Dressler and Wes Cates jerseys are flying off the shelves.
It isn’t just merchandise outlets that stand to benefit from Rider success. Local establishments showing the game on big screens are also set for a busy Sunday.
Bar 5 owner Will Wolanuk is expecting a spike in attendance over last year, which featured Calgary as the Western representative. He also has a new 52-inch television installed to go along with the projection screen and other big screens that were in place.
“There is a fair fan base here in Lloydminster, hopefully we’ll be full,” said Wolanuk, an Eskimos’ fan. “Once (the Eskimos) were out I was on the Riders’ bandwagon.”
Original Joe’s owner Donny Atkinson isn’t sure what the response will be. The last four years they have been the hosts for a private function put on by the Goat radio station, but have decided to open to the public this year.
“With the Riders involved you can always expect a good showing of watermelon helmets and loud cheering,” said Atkinson. “I’d assume we’re going to be really busy, but I’m not sure what to expect.”