Former Rider CEO Jim Hopson honoured by CFL team

The Saskatchewan Roughriders recently honoured former president-CEO Jim Hopson.

The CFL team renamed the auditorium at Mosaic Stadium the Jim Hopson Auditorium.

Hopson, who’s battling colon cancer, joined the Green Zone to talk about the honour and his hope of a long-lasting legacy with the Riders.

He said the Riders and his wife Brenda decided it would be better to make the renaming ceremony a more intimate event for just friends, family and people Hopson had worked with over the years.

“It was very nice. Jeremy (O’Day, the team’s GM) did a nice job (and) Craig (Reynolds, the president-CEO) did a nice job,” said Hopson. “It was very meaningful to me because of my involvement with the stadium.”

Hopson was at the helm of the Riders when the new stadium was first proposed in 2012.

He believes that Mosaic Stadium is one of the best facilities in football.

“I’ve heard that from others that (have) tour(ed the facility),” said Hopson. “The Dallas Cowboys stadium, yes it’s big and splashy and bright lights, but I hear the locker room isn’t any better (than the Riders’ facility) and in fact I hear that our meeting room is at least equal.”

In 2004, Hopson became the first president-CEO in franchise history, as the team moved from a management committee to a governance board. He remained in the job for 10 years, during which time the Roughriders became a financial juggernaut.

For Hopson, legacy is something he has started to think about and what he hopes people will remember when they say his name.

“That I would be seen as someone who helped get us to be a flagship franchise,” Hopson said. “That was my goal when I got there.”

In 2021, Hopson was diagnosed with Stage 4 colon cancer, and he believes being positive throughout the whole ordeal has been very important.

“It’s really tough,” said Hopson. “I think it’s harder on the caregiver, or in my case my wife, than it is on me.”

Hopson also believes it’s harder on his friends and family as well and that having a good support group around you is important.