Courtesy Regina Leader Post:

The tone was upbeat and optimistic as the Saskatchewan Roughriders took part in Thursday’s annual CFL state-of-the-franchise conference call.

There are many reasons for the Riders to be that way, despite some offseason upheaval. The Riders closed out the 2007 season with a 23-19 victory over the Winnipeg Blue Bombers in the Grey Cup game.

The victory ultimately led to a record profit of $1.7 million and that interest has carried over to the 2008 season. Jim Hopson, the Roughriders CEO and president, said that a total of 22,000 season tickets have been purchased for the 2008 season. That figure surpasses the 17,000 tickets which were sold in 2007.

Of the 22,000 season tickets, 18,000 have been sold to individuals with the remainder being used to meet sponsorship and corporate requirements.

“Those are record numbers for us,” Hopson said during a conference call with media representatives from across the country. “We’ve always had great support from our fans but now we’re getting more interest in the brand. That’s not just locally but across the country.”

The record season-ticket sales may increase the pressure on the city and the Roughriders to expand seating at Mosaic Stadium. There’s some temporary seats in the end zone but Hopson would like to see the installation of permanent seats that would increase capacity to 32,000 from 28,800.

“We talked about temporary seats but there is a real cost to that,” Hopson said. “There is extra security, washrooms and concessions. We would like to get to 32,000 good seats.”

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