CFL moves up Roughriders/Tiger-cats game so fans can watch Raptors, too

The CFL is moving up the start time of Thursday's game in Hamilton between the Tiger-Cats and Roughriders by a half hour.

More than 13,000 people turned out at Mosaic Stadium on Wednesday to watch Game 5 of the NBA championship series, between the Toronto Raptors and Golden State Warriors.

REGINA, Sask. — The CFL is playing ball with the NBA.

To accommodate fans who want to watch both, the CFL is moving up the start time of Thursday’s game in Hamilton between the Tiger-Cats and Saskatchewan Roughriders by a half hour. The CFL regular season opener will now start at 5 p.m. CST instead of 5:30.

Game 6 of the NBA Finals between the Golden State Warriors and Toronto Raptors will tip off at 7 p.m. Regina time. It’s a second chance for the Raptors to seal the first NBA championship in franchise history — and it’s do-or-die for the back-to-back defending champion Warriors.

Both games will air live on TSN and both will be shown on Mosaic Stadium’s MaxTron screen. There will be a little overlap in the broadcasts, but the CFL says fans will be able to watch “most” of Game 6.

More than 13,000 people packed into Mosaic Stadium Monday night to watch the Raptors lose Game 4 106-105. Organizers were expecting 5,000 and fans spilled over from the north endzone until the whole west side of the lower bowl was filled.