Biography & Autobiography Sports
Running the Riders
My Decade as CEO of Canada's Team
- Publisher
- DriverWorks Ink
- Initial publish date
- Oct 2015
- Category
- Sports, Football
-
Paperback / softback
- ISBN
- 9781927570234
- Publish Date
- Oct 2015
- List Price
- $19.95
-
eBook
- ISBN
- 9781927570258
- Publish Date
- Oct 2015
- List Price
- $13.31
Classroom Resources
Where to buy it
Description
In 2004, when offensive lineman-turned educator Jim Hopson applied to become CEO of the Saskatchewan Roughriders, the Riders was a decent football team that couldn’t advance to the Grey Cup and was stuck in financial distress. Hopson believed that the team, with its incredible fan base, could become a successful business that consistently posted strong annual profits while playing in and winning multiple Grey Cups. And it happened.
After a decade under Hopson’s leadership (2005 to 2015), the Roughriders became the Canadian Football League's strongest franchise, appearing in four Grey Cup games (winning twice) and selling more team merchandise than the other eight CFL franchises combined. They obliterated their debt and posted a record-setting profit after winning a hometown Grey Cup in 2013, which has been described as the biggest moment in the 105-year-old team’s history.
Hopson’s book, with the assistance of Darrell Davis (an author and long-time sports writer and Roughriders beat writer at the Regina Leader-Post), describes Hopson’s business plans, the resistance to change within the organization, the interplay with the fans of Rider Nation, difficult decisions made, and the euphoria of winning two league championships. An emotional man with a firm disposition, Jim Hopson describes the highs and lows that went along with the job and the path he took, professionally and personally, to the biggest office with the franchise known as “Canada’s Team”.
About the authors
Contributor Notes
About the authors
A former offensive lineman with the Saskatchewan Roughriders, Jim Hopson grew up in Regina before playing junior football with the Rams and advancing to a career in education as a teacher, principal, and administrator. Combined with his passion for the Roughriders, Hopson had the perfect blend of attributes to haul the franchise out of a malaise that had seen the franchise teetering on bankruptcy and, because talented players were reluctant to join the faltering squad, winning only two Grey Cups in the previous 40 years.
After a decade at the helm of Rider Nation, Hopson retired from his Riders duties early in 2015, leaving behind him a team that was now the league’s strongest franchise. Jim Hopson has become a keynote speaker at major conventions and business gatherings throughout Canada, where his storytelling prowess and powerful message about setting a firm plan in place – and never wavering! – make him a sought-after headliner. Jim Hopson lives at Last Mountain Lake, Saskatchewan with his wife Brenda.
Darrell Davis, an author of three books and a long-time sports writer and Roughriders beat writer at the Regina Leader-Post, assisted Hopson in writing revisions, as an adviser, fact-checker, foreman, and sometimes ghost writer for the project. Darrell Davis lives in Regina.
Excerpt: Running the Riders: My Decade as CEO of Canada's Team (by (author) Hopson Jim; with Davis Darrell; edited by Deana Driver)
Chapter 16
Team of Destiny
Our team hadn’t held a home playoff game since 1988. We hadn’t appeared in a Grey Cup game since 1997 in Edmonton.
And we hadn’t won a Grey Cup since 1989. So this notion of preparing for a Grey Cup was novel to the people working in our
organization.
After winning our tough, close, 2007 western semi-final, 26-24 against Calgary, and heading to B.C. for the divisional final, a
feeling was building within the club and Rider Nation that we were a team of destiny. We therefore began making plans in
earnest to travel to the Grey Cup in Toronto, just in case. while there was some help forthcoming from the CFL office, it pertained
only to the team itself, regarding the maximum number of players, coaches, and representatives. We expanded our outlook to prepare
for the transportation, tickets and lodging of additional players, staff, players’ families, board members, and business staff needed
for Riderville and merchandise sales. Thankfully, Laverne Cuddington, my executive assistant, excelled at the type of complex
and demanding organization we needed. Along with ticketing manager Gail Mund, football operations assistant Cheryl McLean-
Kiel and jack-of-all-trades Hugh McKay, Laverne did yeomanlike work for our Grey Cup. These four seldom slept while dealing
with hundreds of requests. with all the planning already in motion, there wasn’t a guarantee that we were going to beat the Lions.
There was an aura of anticipation, plus an air of calmness about the team. B.C. had finished first with a 14-3-1 record, scoring slightly more points than us but allowing way fewer points. Strangely, the Lions had beaten us twice at Mosaic Stadium and we had won our only game
in BC Place. Our second loss was a close game, 37-34, so our guys knew they could compete with the Lions. After winning 26-17 in
the western final, there were lots of happy faces but there was also a calm, purposeful attitude knowing the job wasn’t yet finished.
we chartered a flight from vancouver to Regina after the game, believing that getting back home as quickly as possible
would help us prepare for the quick turnaround and travel to Toronto.
Once we upended B.C. and actually qualified for the Grey Cup in Toronto against the Winnipeg Blue Bombers, we also had to
deal with hundreds of requests from fans and sponsors, even though we did not have tickets to sell or blocks of hotel rooms
available. Regardless, we always did our best to help, given that every request was seemingly prefaced by: “I am the world’s
greatest Riders fan and you HAVE to help me.” It made for challenging times.
My philosophy for dealing with Grey Cup arrangements was this: the team came first. We did everything we could to ensure
the players and coaches were taken care of in terms of their families and personal interests, wanting to give them a first-class
experience. I believed, and the board supported me, that we would gain an edge by not having players and coaches spending their
week taking care of families and friends. We also believed the Grey Cup was not the time to scrimp on expenditures; the returns
of a Grey Cup win would far outweigh the costs. We heard from some Blue Bombers players and personnel that they received
minimal help from their team and, indeed, spent much of the week scrambling for tickets, travel, and rooms. The charter flight arrived in Regina very late in the evening.
While we expected that there would be family, friends, media, and some fans to greet us, We were totally unprepared for the huge
crowd that was at the airport. The terminal was absolutely packed, and people were spilling out onto the parking lot. There were cars parked along the exit road and in the ditch all the way to Lewvan Drive. It was one of the most incredible, spontaneous displays of support that one could imagine. The reception really impacted the team in terms of understanding how much the Riders meant to the province, but also the importance of the coming Grey Cup. If this was how the fans responded to winning the CFL western final, how would they respond to winning it all?
It was very late by the time we were able to get the buses out of the airport lot and back to Mosaic Stadium. I doubt if equipment
manager Gordon Gilroy and his staff got any sleep that night as they had to unpack from that trip and immediately begin to pack
for the trip to the Grey Cup in Toronto. It is also likely that very few other staff or players got much sleep as there was so much
excitement and so much to do.
Kent was incredible to observe throughout the playoffs and Grey Cup. His calmness and focus set a strong tone for the team.
Eric was also good. The fact he and Kent had been to Grey Cups before was reassuring to a neophyte like me, who otherwise
wouldn’t have known what to expect and what was important.
Grey Cup week is always a blur, filled with events and obligatory appearances. My time was mostly filled by dealing with
dozens of requests from fans, sponsors, and board members. Rider Nation was in a frenzy over the Grey Cup and it seemed like half
of Saskatchewan was trying to find a way to Toronto and a ticket to the big game. Having the game in the giant metropolis of
downtown Toronto meant there were hotel rooms available, although they were getting further and further away as the week progressed...
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