Quote Originally Posted by Mookie Fan View Post
I think this is an interesting and important point. Obviously the BC Lions and Saskatchewan Roughriders are named after provinces, not cities. I'm not sure how much the name matters in establishing a following outside the city a team is located in. That said, what could a team in the Maritimes be called, if not named after one city? There is more than one province in eastern Canada, and none of them have very big populations. Could the word Maritime be in the name? Maybe that wouldn't work, I have no idea.

Also, I think it is important that a new stadium built in the Martimes be a pretty good size. I know some people talk about building a stadium with between 25 000 - 28 000 seats. I think that is too small. I would build one with at least 33 000 seats. My reason is I think it would be more effective to try and draw people from other cities, and sell more tickets at very affordable prices than fewer tickets at much higher prices. Some people say a team in eastern Canada could not work because of a lack of a corporate base and too little wealth in that part of the country. I think the solution is to sell more tickets at lower prices, rather than fewer tickets at higher prices. I think a team could more than break even if it did this effectively. It would also lead to big crowds and a great atmosphere at games.
The name is huge. At least half the Riders following is from outside Regina. Without that, the Riders would have folded long ago. As a matter of fact when they became the Saskatchewan Roughriders in 1947 it was because Saskatoon and Moose Jaw's team had folded and the only way to save the Regina Roughriders was to have the team belong to the entire province.