Rider gear on the rise after improvements on-field

The Saskatchewan Roughriders are having a better start to their season in 2017, and that’s leading to more merchandise being sold off the field.

The Riders have two wins this season, and while they aren’t near the top of their division, it is an improvement over this time last year.

“Last year, people kind of forgot about the Riders by week four, and it’s a good thing the Blue Jays were hitting last year because we weren’t selling anything Riders,” said Mike Roberts, store manager for Jersey City in Regina.

He said he believed a few reasons they could be leading to increased sales are a new-found belief in the team, and the hype around the new stadium.

And putting a winning product on the field doesn’t hurt.

“We’re a very passionate group, we get into our arguments about the Roughriders and we’ll be mad at them for a couple of weeks and then they win and it’s like ‘Okay, we’ll take you back’ and it’s like that with the merchandise.”

He said people will come in dressed head-to-toe in Rider gear and still find something new to buy.

Roberts said Rob Bagg was the most popular jersey choice among the Rider faithful but another player was gaining steam.

“We’ve got a lot of requests for (Duron) Carter, that catch was amazing and it kind of put him on the map.”