Legendary rapper Snoop Dogg will headline the pre-game concert this Saturday before a historic CFL game in Vancouver.
The B.C. Lions will host the Edmonton Elks at B.C. Place in the season opener for both teams, which will mark the first opening week featuring two Canadian starting quarterbacks (B.C.’s Nathan Rourke and Edmonton’s Tre Ford) since 1968 and the first time it’s occurred in the same game.
The Lions are hosting the fourth concert kickoff with Snoop Dogg as part of the pre-game, which team president Duane Vienneau said adds to the excitement around the game.
“It’s absolutely electric,” Vienneau said. “We like kicking off the season with a big punch.”
He said he hopes the concert generates new Lions’ fans.
“Our job is to get ’em there, and then the coaches’ and the players’ job is to put on a good performance, if you will, on the field … and then next thing you know, we’re continuing to build our attendance.”
Duane Vienneau said the Lions are looking to improve in the 2025 season after they made the Canadian Football League playoffs last year. Ahead of the home opener, which will feature a concert by American rapper Snoop Dogg, Vienneau said the team is looking forward to the reign of new coach and former Lions quarterback Buck Pierce.
Game notes
B.C.’s Buck Pierce and Edmonton’s Mark Kilam will make their CFL head-coaching debuts.
Rourke, 27, of Victoria, rejoined the Lions last season following NFL stints with Jacksonville, New England, the New York Giants and Atlanta. He was the league’s top Canadian in 2022 with B.C.
Rourke struggled last year with the Lions, as the team won three and lost five with him as quarterback.
But Vienneau said the team believes in Rourke.
“He’s put in a lot of effort and work. And we’re all very, very confident that Nathan will get back to the form he was in when he was here in ’22 and was just lighting up the league.”
Ford, also 27, was Edmonton’s ’22 first-round pick out of Waterloo. The Hec Crighton Trophy winner from Niagara Falls, Ont., was 9-9 in 18 starts over the last three years before signing an extension with the CFL club this off-season.
Ford and Kilam are looking to lead Edmonton to the CFL playoffs for the first time since 2019.
Pierce joined the Lions following 10 seasons as an assistant with Winnipeg, helping the Bombers make five straight Grey Cup appearances, winning in 2019 and ’21.
