Surely something as sacred as Rider green, that emblematic colour of Saskatchewan’s lone professional sports team for as long as anyone can remember, was chosen in a carefully considered, reasoned fashion. Certainly someone weighed the options and sourced the fan base to pick the perfect colour to define the franchise. Right?
As seems to be the case with many things Roughriders, the iconic colour scheme was actually born from a rash fiscal decision. Here’s what happened: In 1910, the franchise was founded as the Regina Rugby Club and wore gold and purple, more or less the colours worn by the rival Winnipeg Blue Bombers. The next year, the Roughriders wore Toronto Argonauts blue and white, and in 1912 they changed to the red and black the Calgary Stampeders wear today. That lasted until 1948, when the cash-strapped team needed to replace a set of worn uniforms. Saskatchewan executive Jack Fyffe was browsing a Chicago surplus store when he came across two complete sets of green-and-white uniforms—at a discounted price, no less. Perfect, he thought, buying the cheap gear and setting the course for the next 65-plus years of Roughriders history. There you have it. The Riders wear green because, well, the uniforms were on sale.
Regardless, Saskatchewanians have embraced the colour and will go to great lengths to convince you it was chosen to represent the province’s agricultural roots. The team is publicly owned, after all, and was once bailed out of near bankruptcy by local farmers who donated a massive crop of wheat to help pay the bills. Some fans joke the team wears bright green so it’s easier to identify them through the blizzards they often play in at Mosaic Stadium. Local grocery stores certainly don’t complain; watermelon sales spike before home games as fans buy the fruit en masse to carve into makeshift helmets.
Whatever the reason, the fans and team couldn’t be happier. The Roughriders sold more than $10 million worth of merchandise in the 2010–11 fiscal year (the team’s centennial), the most in CFL history and third among Canadian sports teams that year, trailing only the Toronto Maple Leafs and Montreal Canadiens. In 2012, the team’s vice-president of marketing, Steve Mazurak, told a local radio station that 70 percent of all CFL merchandise sold was Roughrider green. Here’s hoping the Fyffe family at least got a cut.
