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Toronto Raptors and Saskatchewan Roughriders fans united as 10,051 descended upon Mosaic Stadium to witness history Thursday night.
The Raptors captured their first NBA title as a franchise, with millions of people watching across Canada, including thousands in Regina.
The championship victory was the perfect ending to a sports double-feature on the MaxTron that began with the Roughriders playing the Hamilton Tiger-Cats to kick off the 2019 CFL regular season.
The final seconds at mosaic stadium. History in Canada 🇨🇦 #yqr #WeTheNorth pic.twitter.com/xWtBX54FRc
— Britton Gray (@BrittonGray) June 14, 2019
When the gates first opened, a few thousand Roughriders fans could clearly be seen with just a few red Raptors jerseys appearing in the crowd.
Lillian Andrews, who was there in her Riders green, was one of the first people in line to get in to watch the game, but she was sticking around to see the crowd form for the Raptors.
“I think we’re setting a precedent for this new stadium that we can use it for more than just a Rider game,” Andrews said. “The more of these (events) that (the City of Regina) involve the community in, I think it’s only going up from here.”
As tipoff for Game 6 of the NBA Finals drew closer, Raptors fans funneled in and soon outnumbered the Roughriders contingent.
Despite a Roughriders loss and some rain throughout the NBA championship game, it didn’t dampen the spirits or experience for people there.
“It’s unreal,” said Erica Focht, a life-long Raptors fan.
Chad Merk enjoyed the fact he could bring his daughter to the game and share the moment with her.
“(The entire event) was excellent. There was nobody really crazy,” Merk said. “Two guys ran out onto the field but whoop-dee-do. Other than that it was an awesome event.”
When Evraz Place hosted a similar event on Monday, it had planned for only 5,000 people to show up. In the end, nearly 14,000 people came, and that led to lengthy lines for food and beer.
Fans at Thursday’s game noticed a vast improvement in the overall experience.
“They’ve done a much better job tonight,” Cameron Hinchcliffe said. “(On Monday) we couldn’t even get a beer before the game started, and it’s been done much better (Thursday).”
Brandon Whitehouse also felt like things were running better for Game 6.
“The crowd’s a lot more into it, it’s a lot more serious now,” he said. “(It’s) a lot better now that they have a lot more food vendors and bartenders working this game.”
With the success of Regina’s version of Jurassic Park, people who took in the event would like to see similar ones in the future.
“It brings a lot of people together, especially with it being free. Anyone can come,” Whitehouse said. “Everyone from different parts of the city can show up and show support for the Raptors.”
Rimo Creer wants to see the City of Regina expand this idea and use it with other events as well.
“I would love for them to show more than just basketball. (I’d like) any sport really,” Creer said. “I support it.”
But Hinchcliffe doesn’t envision it working for Roughriders games in the future.
“I don’t think that we’re going to draw enough (for the Roughriders) so I don’t really see a point,” Hinchcliffe said. “I was expecting to see a bunch of Rider fans get upset (when screen operators took the game off the biggest screen), but I was surprised there weren’t really a bunch of Rider fans here. We really don’t need to keep doing it for Rider games, but other events absolutely.”