Moe open to Regina being a hub city for CFL in 2020

While there haven’t been any discussions with the CFL, Saskatchewan Premier Scott Moe is open to the province becoming the western hub if the league goes that route in 2020.

Speaking to the media during the province’s daily COVID-19 update Thursday, Moe said the province would make sense as a place for the CFL to host games.

“Saskatchewan would be the place to have the western CFL hub just due to the strength of our organization and what we represent in the league,” Moe said, referring to the Saskatchewan Roughriders.

“We are very hopeful that we would be able to move forward with some type of CFL season here, not just in Regina or Saskatchewan but in general. For many, many years (the Roughriders franchise) has been our only professional team in this province and it is a team that is very beloved to all of us.”

Moe clarified there haven’t been any specific discussions about what it may look like in the province if the CFL elects to go that route.

The status of the 2020 CFL season is up in the air due to the ongoing pandemic.

While the plug hasn’t been pulled on the season, the league has already said the earliest it could start is September. It already moved to a win-and-host Grey Cup model instead of the game automatically being in Regina as was planned.

The Queen City now is to host the Grey Cup and its festivities in 2022.

One of the ideas that has been reportedly discussed by the CFL is using hub cities — one in the west and one in the east — and running the regular season out of those locales.

“If the proper and appropriate precautions are put in place, it’s quite likely that our Saskatchewan Roughriders would not only be able to host the Grey Cup in 2022 but if we’re able to be in a win-and-host scenario this year, it’s quite likely that if we were to play a few games that we would likely host this year in Regina as well,” Moe said.

While the hope remains there is a CFL season, Moe admitted discussions around it have to deal with public health more than anything.

“It would have to be safe for all involved — safe for the players (and) safe for all the associated team members that would be involved — and likely wouldn’t include fans in the near future,” Moe said.

When Phase 3 of the Re-Open Saskatchewan plan begins June 8, the maximum size of outdoor gatherings will increase to 30. That number currently is 10.