Some fans are taking to social media, frustrated over Mosaic Stadium‘s no re-entry policy, after the Saskatchewan Roughriders‘ home opener was delayed two hours due to weather.
After a severe thunderstorm watch Monday night, a tweet from Evraz Place’s official Twitter account directed told those in attendance to “stay within the stadium seek shelter on the concourse.”
But some, like Nicole Haynes and her family, chose not to weather the chaos and instead headed for the bus, only to be turned away.
“We weren’t told the buses weren’t running. If we had been told, we wouldn’t have left the stadium,” Haynes said.
She added that if it wasn’t for the help of a complete stranger driving them to their car, her family, including a 14-month-old baby, would have been stranded in the storm.
“If we’d been allowed back in the stadium, we would have definitely gone back,” Haynes said.
Fans say that in messages posted on the MaxTron and heard over the speakers it was made clear that if you left, you wouldn’t be allowed back in.
Evraz Place told Global News in an e-mail that the policy is in effect for all events at Mosaic Stadium.
The Saskatchewan Roughriders say the policy has been in place since the new stadium opened in 2017, following safety practices for stadiums and arenas across sports.
A statement from the team read:
“The Saskatchewan Roughriders would like to thank its fans for their cooperation during the storm at our home game on July 1. Moving 30,000 people from their seats is no small feat, and we would not have been able to do it without their help and patience. Our number one priority is always the safety of our fans and through our safety protocol we were able to keep everyone safe from the lightning storm happening around us. This is the first time we’ve had to implement this protocol at our new stadium. As we do after every home game, we will be debriefing and reviewing this protocol for lessons learned and to ensure it runs even more smoothly in the future.”
But CFL security director, Rod Buckingham, told Global News that “the gates were instructed to allow people back in, so if anyone was not allowed in then it was someone’s misunderstanding.”
Still, some say that’s not what they were told.
“Due to the two hour delay, I had to take my daughter home for bedtime three blocks away and would have liked to return to watch the second half,” season ticket holder Douglas Stroud wrote on Facebook. “Last night may have been too much to handle on mass, however for a regular game and weather I don’t feel it would be that hard to handle.”
Another ticket holder, Russell Duffy, wrote: “I think if there was a better plan to shelter people then fine, but that mess was painful. If people who pay for their tickets wish to leave and come back during a delay that was over two hours, they should be allowed to.”
The lack of clarity is leaving some fans with more questions than answers.
“There’s hundreds of people who take these buses and as soon as a delay happens like this or something happens where you leave, you’re stranded,” Haynes said.