16,500 fans test new facility in first-ever football game at Mosaic Stadium

The new Mosaic Stadium hosted its first-ever football game Saturday afternoon as the University of Regina Rams defeated the University of Saskatchewan Huskies 37-29.

The game is one of three test events at the stadium. The city said it will be testing everything from electrical to mechanical matters.

“Our contract with PCL … we’re testing the facility at half-full, seeing the game-day experiences,” Mayor Michael Fougere said. “We’re going to see how things work.”

“If there are kinks in the system, we’ll find out what they are and fix those.”

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Fougere said he’s relieved the day had finally come, but also acknowledged there’s still lots of work to be done. The stadium still remains a construction site.

“This is the first time we’ve had this many people so it’s really a question of testing,” he said.

READ MORE: What you need to know before the new Mosaic Stadium test event

Crowd control was a priority for the city. Fougere said the city had increased security and volunteer personnel.

“We’re actually monitoring security as well as volunteers to see how the system works, so we’re looking for the flow of people in and out of the building,” Fougere explained.

Volunteer Host Bob Findlay said reception from fans has been great overall. He said everyone seemed overjoyed.

“They have questions about the ATMs, where the washrooms are. With this stadium, its improved vastly over the current stadium,” Findlay explained.

The city was also testing food as well. For the first-time ever game, local vendors like Beer Brothers were allowed to sell.

“The old Mosaic stadium is a single vendor enterprise. The opportunity for local businesses to participate in the stadium in this manner is very important to getting the support of the community,” co-partner Greg Hanwell said.

The main scoreboard was not fully functional but fans said they had no qualms about the stadium or the experience.

“Everything looks fantastic so far, everything seems to be running smoothly so far,” fan James Kohut explained. “It looks awesome, everything is well signed. There’s lots of volunteers.”

The second test event has yet to be decided, but the city has confirmed the third and final test will be a Saskatchewan Roughriders game.