Mosaic Stadium is an open-air
stadium
A stadium ( : stadiums or stadia) is a place or venue for (mostly) outdoor sports, concerts, or other events and consists of a field or stage either partly or completely surrounded by a tiered structure designed to allow spectators to stand o ...
at
REAL District in
Regina, Saskatchewan
Regina () is the capital city of the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian province of Saskatchewan. The city is the second-largest in the province, after Saskatoon, and is a commercial centre for southern Saskatchewan. As of the 2021 C ...
. Announced on July 12, 2012, the stadium replaced
Mosaic Stadium at Taylor Field
Taylor Field, known in its latter years as Mosaic Stadium at Taylor Field for sponsorship reasons, was an open-air stadium located in Regina, Saskatchewan. It was the home field of the Canadian Football League's Saskatchewan Roughriders from 19 ...
as the home field of the
Canadian Football League
The Canadian Football League (CFL; french: Ligue canadienne de football—LCF) is a professional sports league in Canada. The CFL is the highest level of competition in Canadian football. The league consists of nine teams, each located in a ci ...
's
Saskatchewan Roughriders
The Saskatchewan Roughriders are a professional Canadian football team based in Regina, Saskatchewan. The Roughriders compete in the Canadian Football League (CFL) as a member club of the league's West Division.
The Roughriders were founded in 1 ...
. It was designed by
HKS, Inc.
HKS, Inc. is an American international architecture firm headquartered in Dallas, Texas (USA).
History
The firm was founded in 1939 by Harwood K. Smith.
In 2002, HKS expanded its international presence by opening HKS Arquitectos in Mex ...
, in joint venture with B+H, the architects of record. Preliminary construction on the new stadium began in early 2014, and it was declared "substantially complete" on August 31, 2016. The stadium is owned by the city of Regina and operated by the Regina Exhibition Association Ltd. (REAL).
The stadium soft opened with a university football game between the
Regina Rams and the
Saskatchewan Huskies on October 1, 2016. The Roughriders moved into the stadium for the
2017 CFL season. It hosted the
2019 NHL Heritage Classic
The 2019 NHL Heritage Classic (branded as the 2019 Tim Hortons NHL Heritage Classic for sponsorship reasons) was an outdoor regular season National Hockey League (NHL) game. The game, the fifth Heritage Classic, was held on October 26, 2019. Th ...
and the
109th Grey Cup in 2022.
History
On July 12, 2012 during a
pre-game ceremony
A pre-game ceremony or pre-match ceremony is an on-field ceremony occurring before a sporting event. Such ceremonies may celebrate a past event, honour a retiring athlete, commemorate a deceased athlete, or promote a cause.
Celebrating past event ...
,
Saskatchewan Premier Brad Wall
Bradley John Wall (born November 24, 1965), is a Canadian former politician who served as the 14th premier of Saskatchewan from November 21, 2007 until February 2, 2018. He is the fourth longest-tenured premier in the province's history. His so ...
and Regina mayor
Pat Fiacco
Pat (Pasquale) Fiacco (born December 27, 1962) is the former mayor of Regina, the capital city of Saskatchewan, Canada from 2000 to 2012. In June 2014, he became president and chief executive officer of the Hospitals of Regina Foundation, after ...
announced the signing of a memorandum of understanding for the funding of a new stadium to house the
Saskatchewan Roughriders
The Saskatchewan Roughriders are a professional Canadian football team based in Regina, Saskatchewan. The Roughriders compete in the Canadian Football League (CFL) as a member club of the league's West Division.
The Roughriders were founded in 1 ...
, to replace
Mosaic Stadium at Taylor Field
Taylor Field, known in its latter years as Mosaic Stadium at Taylor Field for sponsorship reasons, was an open-air stadium located in Regina, Saskatchewan. It was the home field of the Canadian Football League's Saskatchewan Roughriders from 19 ...
. The stadium was slated for construction at
Evraz Place
REAL District, formerly known as Evraz Place and Regina Exhibition Park, is a 102-acre (0.41 km2) sport complex and exhibition grounds in Regina, Saskatchewan, operated by the Regina Exhibition Association Limited (REAL). The area is home to Mosai ...
, Regina's exhibition grounds, sharing its site with Regina's indoor arena
Brandt Centre
The Brandt Centre (formerly the Regina Agridome) is an indoor arena at REAL District in Regina, Saskatchewan. Built in 1977, it is the home arena for the WHL's Regina Pats. It is owned by the city of Regina and operated by the Regina Exhibitio ...
.
The project was officially approved by the Regina City Council in January 2013.[
The new stadium serves as an aspect of the Regina Revitalization Initiative, a redevelopment project which will also see the former site of Taylor Field redeveloped into a residential area, and the re-location of the ]Canadian Pacific Railway
The Canadian Pacific Railway (french: Chemin de fer Canadien Pacifique) , also known simply as CPR or Canadian Pacific and formerly as CP Rail (1968–1996), is a Canadian Class I railway incorporated in 1881. The railway is owned by Canadi ...
's downtown yard to the Global Transportation Hub project on the west end of Regina to allow for further downtown development.
On March 14, 2014, it was announced that PCL Construction
The PCL family of companies is a group of independent general contracting construction companies in Canada, the United States, Australia and the Caribbean. PCL has headquarters in Edmonton, Alberta, Canada, with the United States head office in D ...
had won the bid to lead the construction of the new stadium, and that it would be designed by HKS, Inc.
HKS, Inc. is an American international architecture firm headquartered in Dallas, Texas (USA).
History
The firm was founded in 1939 by Harwood K. Smith.
In 2002, HKS expanded its international presence by opening HKS Arquitectos in Mex ...
—a firm recently known for their work on AT&T Stadium
AT&T Stadium, formerly Cowboys Stadium, is a retractable roof, retractable-roof stadium in Arlington, Texas, United States. It serves as the home of the Dallas Cowboys of the National Football League (NFL), and was completed on May 27, 2009. I ...
and Lucas Oil Stadium
Lucas Oil Stadium is a multi-purpose stadium in downtown Indianapolis, Indiana, United States. It replaced the RCA Dome as the home field of the National Football League (NFL)'s Indianapolis Colts and opened on August 16, 2008. The stadium was ...
. The official design of the new stadium was unveiled on May 22, 2014. as also announced that The Mosaic Company
The Mosaic Company is a Fortune 500 company based in Tampa, Florida which mines phosphate, potash, and collects urea for fertilizer, through various international distribution networks, and Mosaic Fertilizantes. It is the largest U.S. producer of ...
, which held naming rights
Naming rights are a financial transaction and form of advertising or memorialization whereby a corporation, person, or other entity purchases the right to name a facility, object, location, program, or event, typically for a defined period of t ...
to the previous stadium, would renew its naming rights to cover the new stadium under a 20-year deal. As such, the new stadium will also be known as Mosaic Stadium.
Preliminary excavation of the stadium site began in April 2014, and an official groundbreaking ceremony was held on June 16, 2014. The new stadium was scheduled to be completed by August 2016, and the Roughriders were to officially move into the facility for the 2017 season.[ Installation of the stadium's FieldTurf Revolution 360 playing surface began in July 2016; it is the first CFL stadium to feature this iteration of FieldTurf.] On August 31, 2016, officials declared Mosaic Stadium to be "substantially complete", with furniture, concessions, and other fixtures still being finished.
The city stated that at least three test events would be held at Mosaic Stadium before the Roughriders' inaugural season at the facility; the first was a Regina Rams/ Saskatchewan Huskies university football game on October 1, 2016. Only the lower bowl was utilized, capping capacity at 16,500. The second test event, ''Regina Rocks Mosaic Stadium'', was held on May 27, 2017, headlined by Bryan Adams
Bryan Guy Adams (born 5 November 1959) is a Canadian musician, singer, songwriter, composer, and photographer. He has been cited as one of the best-selling music artists of all time, and is estimated to have sold between 75 million and mor ...
. The stadium was capped at 75% of its capacity for this event. The Riders hosted their first game at the new Mosaic Stadium, a pre-season game against the Winnipeg Blue Bombers
The Winnipeg Blue Bombers are a professional Canadian football team based in Winnipeg, Manitoba. The Blue Bombers compete in the Canadian Football League (CFL) as a member club of the league's West division. They play their home games at IG Fiel ...
, on June 10, 2017.
In November 2019, a stretch of 10th Avenue along the north end of the stadium was renamed George Reed Way, in honour of retired Roughriders player George Reed. The stadium's official address was also changed to 1734 George Reed Way, in reference to his #34 jersey.
Design
The stadium is intended to provide a more modern fan experience in comparison to Taylor Field, utilizing a sunken bowl with a partial roof around much of its rim, designed to shield spectators. The rim's curved design is meant to prevent snow from accumulating on the roof. The stadium was built to support the construction of a full roof in the future. To protect spectators from winds which predominantly come from the north and west, the lower bowl is situated below ground level and the upper deck surrounds the entire north end zone. Thirty-eight corporate suites and two levels of luxury seating are also provided. The stadium features an open concourse
A concourse is a place where pathways or roads meet, such as in a hotel, a convention center, a railway station, an airport terminal, a hall, or other space.
The term is not limited to places where there are literally pathways or roadways or t ...
, circling the entire facility.
Below the concourse of the south end zone, which is not covered by either the roof or the upper deck) are five standing-room tiers branded as "Pil Country" (as part of a sponsorship by Pilsner
Pilsner (also pilsener or simply pils) is a type of pale lager. It takes its name from the Bohemian city of Plzeň (german: Pilsen), where the world's first pale lager (now known as Pilsner Urquell) was produced in 1842 by Pilsner Urquell Brewe ...
), with bars running across their length. The section is by general admission and limited to attendees of legal drinking age (19 in Saskatchewan).
Statues honouring Roughriders players Ron Lancaster
Ronald Lancaster (October 14, 1938 – September 18, 2008) was an American-Canadian professional football player and coach in the Canadian Football League (CFL). As the starting quarterback for the Saskatchewan Roughriders for 16 seasons, he ...
and George Reed were erected at the west end of the stadium site.
Budget
Mosaic Stadium was estimated to cost around $278 million to build.[ Funding would be provided by multiple sources; the government of Saskatchewan provided a grant of $80 million, and a $100 million loan being paid off through a $12 surcharges on all Roughriders tickets. The city provided $73 million in funding, which will be subsidized through ]property tax
A property tax or millage rate is an ad valorem tax on the value of a property.In the OECD classification scheme, tax on property includes "taxes on immovable property or net wealth, taxes on the change of ownership of property through inheri ...
increases. The remainder of the budget was covered by the Roughriders themselves, primarily through naming rights. In May 2018, the Regina Exhibition Association's president disclosed that additional surcharges may be introduced for concert tickets in the future.
In 2022, the provincial government announced that the existing exemption of the provincial sales tax
In Canada, there are two types of sales taxes levied. These are :
*Provincial sales taxes (PST), levied by the provinces.
* Goods and services tax (GST)/ harmonized sales tax (HST), a value-added tax levied by the federal government. The GST ap ...
for sports tickets would be abolished on October 1, effectively adding an additional six per cent charge to tickets for all events at venues in the province including Mosaic Stadium. The government cited the previous funding it had provided to build the stadium among the justifications for this change.
Accessibility and transportation
Regina Transit
Regina Transit is the public transportation agency operated by the City of Regina, Saskatchewan, Canada. It is the oldest public transit system in Saskatchewan and has been city-owned since its inception.
History
Regina Transit's roots go back ...
offers free shuttle bus and parking service to and from Mosaic Stadium for Roughriders games and other major events, with drop-off points including Northgate Mall, Southland Mall, the University of Regina, two downtown locations and three locations in the Warehouse District. In 2018, Normanview Crossing dropped out of the program, as its businesses objected to the site's parking lots being wasted by its users. The site was replaced by a third downtown pickup location near the former Sears
Sears, Roebuck and Co. ( ), commonly known as Sears, is an American chain of department stores founded in 1892 by Richard Warren Sears and Alvah Curtis Roebuck and reincorporated in 1906 by Richard Sears and Julius Rosenwald, with what began a ...
outlet store on Broad Street, which was criticized for removing coverage of the service from the city's northwest neighbourhoods. In 2019, Victora Square Mall was replaced by the University of Regina
The University of Regina is a public research university located in Regina, Saskatchewan, Canada. Founded in 1911 as a private denominational high school of the Methodist Church of Canada, it began an association with the University of Saskatchew ...
campus.
Notable events
Football
*On November 20, 2022, Mosaic Stadium hosted the 109th Grey Cup between the Toronto Argonauts
The Toronto Argonauts (officially the Toronto Argonaut Football Club and colloquially known as the Argos) are a professional Canadian football team competing in the East Division of the Canadian Football League (CFL), based in Toronto, Ontario ...
and Winnipeg Blue Bombers
The Winnipeg Blue Bombers are a professional Canadian football team based in Winnipeg, Manitoba. The Blue Bombers compete in the Canadian Football League (CFL) as a member club of the league's West division. They play their home games at IG Fiel ...
.
Concerts
*On May 27, 2017, the stadium hosted its second major test event, ''Regina Rocks Mosaic Stadium'', a concert headlined by Bryan Adams
Bryan Guy Adams (born 5 November 1959) is a Canadian musician, singer, songwriter, composer, and photographer. He has been cited as one of the best-selling music artists of all time, and is estimated to have sold between 75 million and mor ...
.
*Guns N' Roses
Guns N' Roses is an American hard rock band from Los Angeles, California, formed in 1985. When they signed to Geffen Records in 1986, the band comprised vocalist Axl Rose, lead guitarist Slash, rhythm guitarist Izzy Stradlin, bassist Duff McKa ...
played Mosaic Stadium on the Not in This Lifetime... Tour on August 27, 2017.
*The Eagles
The Eagles are an American rock band formed in Los Angeles in 1971. With five number-one singles and six number-one albums, six Grammy Awards and five American Music Awards, the Eagles were one of the most successful musical acts of the 1970s ...
played Mosaic Stadium on May 17, 2018, as part of their North American tour, scheduled as part of festivities for the 2018 Memorial Cup
The 2018 Memorial Cup (branded as the 2018 Mastercard Memorial Cup for sponsorship reasons) was a four-team, round-robin format tournament that was held at Brandt Centre in Regina, Saskatchewan from May 18–27, 2018. It was the 100th Memorial ...
(hosted by the Regina Pats
Regina (Latin for "queen") may refer to:
Places Canada
* Regina, Saskatchewan, the capital city of the province
** Regina (electoral district)
** Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Regina
France
* Régina, French Guiana, a commune
United States
* R ...
at nearby Brandt Centre
The Brandt Centre (formerly the Regina Agridome) is an indoor arena at REAL District in Regina, Saskatchewan. Built in 1977, it is the home arena for the WHL's Regina Pats. It is owned by the city of Regina and operated by the Regina Exhibitio ...
).
* Garth Brooks
Troyal Garth Brooks (born February 7, 1962) is an American country music singer and songwriter. His integration of pop and rock elements into the country genre has earned him popularity, particularly in the United States with success on the co ...
played two shows of The Garth Brooks Stadium Tour
The Garth Brooks Stadium Tour was a concert tour by American singer Garth Brooks. It began on October 20, 2018 in Notre Dame, Indiana, at Notre Dame Stadium and concluded with 5 sold-out shows at Croke Park in Dublin, Ireland ending on September 1 ...
at Mosaic Stadium on August 9 and 10, 2019.
Hockey
* On October 26, 2019, Mosaic Stadium hosted the 2019 NHL Heritage Classic
The 2019 NHL Heritage Classic (branded as the 2019 Tim Hortons NHL Heritage Classic for sponsorship reasons) was an outdoor regular season National Hockey League (NHL) game. The game, the fifth Heritage Classic, was held on October 26, 2019. Th ...
, featuring the Winnipeg Jets
The Winnipeg Jets are a professional ice hockey team based in Winnipeg. The team competes in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Central Division in the Western Conference, and is owned by True North Sports & Entertainment, pl ...
and Calgary Flames
The Calgary Flames are a professional ice hockey team based in Calgary. The Flames compete in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Pacific Division (NHL), Pacific Division in the Western Conference (NHL), Western Conference, and ...
. The Regina Pats
Regina (Latin for "queen") may refer to:
Places Canada
* Regina, Saskatchewan, the capital city of the province
** Regina (electoral district)
** Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Regina
France
* Régina, French Guiana, a commune
United States
* R ...
hosted the Calgary Hitmen
The Calgary Hitmen are a major junior ice hockey team based in Calgary, Alberta, Canada. The Hitmen play in the Central Division of the Western Hockey League (WHL). They play their home games at the Scotiabank Saddledome. Bret "The Hitman" ...
in a Western Hockey League
The Western Hockey League (WHL) is a major junior ice hockey league based in Western Canada and the Northwestern United States. The WHL is one of three leagues that constitutes the Canadian Hockey League (CHL) as the highest level of junior h ...
(WHL) game the next day, the Prairie Classic. The Pats had originally planned to host an outdoor game against the Moose Jaw Warriors
The Moose Jaw Warriors are a major junior ice hockey team in the Western Hockey League based in Moose Jaw, Saskatchewan. The Warriors play in the East Division of the Eastern Conference. The team plays its home games at Moose Jaw Events Centre ...
in February 2018 as part of their centennial season. However, due to slow ticket sales and weather concerns, the outdoor games were cancelled and moved back to Brandt Centre.
Soccer
* Valencia CF
Valencia Club de Fútbol (, ca-valencia, València Club de Futbol ), commonly referred to as Valencia CF (or simply Valencia) is a professional football club based in Valencia, Spain, that currently plays in La Liga, the top flight of the Spa ...
of La Liga
The Campeonato Nacional de Liga de Primera División, commonly known simply as Primera División in Spain, and as La Liga in English-speaking countries and officially as LaLiga Santander for sponsorship reasons, stylized as LaLiga, is the men's ...
and the New York Cosmos New York Cosmos may refer to
* New York Cosmos (1970–1985), a team in the North American Soccer League (then the top-tier soccer league in the United States and Canada)
* New York Cosmos (2010), a team playing since 2020 in the National Independ ...
of the North American Soccer League The North American Soccer League may refer to:
*North American Soccer League (1968–1984), a former Division I league
*North American Soccer League (2011–2017)
The North American Soccer League (NASL) was a professional men's soccer league b ...
hosted an international friendly at Mosaic Stadium on July 22, 2017. The match was played as part of ''Soccer Day in Saskatchewan'', which also included a women's university soccer match between the Regina Cougars and Saskatchewan Huskies.
* In 2017, Mosaic Stadium was listed as one of nine possible Canadian venues in United 2026, a joint U.S.-led bid to hold portions of the 2026 FIFA World Cup in Canada and Mexico. However, Regina did not make the shortlist of 32.
* On August 3, 2022, the stadium hosted an exhibition match between under-23 sides of Sunderland A.F.C.
Sunderland Association Football Club (, ) is an English professional football club based in the city of Sunderland, Tyne and Wear. Formed in 1879, Sunderland play in the Championship, the second tier of English football. The club has won six t ...
and Toronto FC
Toronto Football Club (commonly known as Toronto FC or TFC) is a Canadian professional soccer club based in Toronto. The club competes in Major League Soccer (MLS) as a member of the Eastern Conference. The team plays its home matches at BMO ...
.
References
External links
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Mosaic Stadium
Buildings and structures in Regina, Saskatchewan
Canadian Football League venues
Regina Rams
Saskatchewan Roughriders
Sport in Regina, Saskatchewan
Sports venues in Saskatchewan
Public–private partnership projects in Canada
Soccer venues in Saskatchewan