IT’S NOT just because the struggling team needs prayer support. The BC Lions are offering a Christian concert after their next home football game.

Internationally recognized local band Starfield will headline the two-hour concert, which will also include contributions by head coach Wally Buono and assistant coach Mark Washington and testimonies from some of the players.

The idea is an extension of the club’s work with church groups, said Jordan Eshpeter, manager of ticket sales. For years, the club has been offering blocks of seats to churches so youth groups and men’s groups can come to the game, sit together and hang out.

For many churches, it also creates a non-threatening church  event to which non-Christians can be invited.

Other sports teams have offered Christian concerts as well. Some of the largest have been presented by the Toronto Argonauts.

The BC Lions event will take place on the afternoon of Saturday, September 11.  The concert is free with the purchase of regularly priced $35 and $45 tickets in certain sections.

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Those who buy these tickets will be given wristbands. After the game, other fans will leave, but those with wristbands will be allowed to stay for the concert. The concert will take place on the street party stage, which is outside the bowl but inside the grounds of the Lions’ new temporary home at Empire Stadium.

The team deliberately chose an afternoon game for the event, Eshpeter said. The game starts at 1 pm, and the concert will start sometime after 4 pm.

This allows people from farther away in the Lower Mainland to be able to get home after the concert before it gets too late. Even people from Vancouver Island or the Interior may be able to get home the same night.  

The event is being supported by a number of other groups, including World Vision, Praise 106.5 radio station, Scripture Union Sports, and the Rosedale on Robson hotel.

Organizing concerts is nothing new for Eshpeter, who was organizing Christian concerts when he was in high school and when he was on the student council at Trinity Western University. He said that if this concert is successful, it may become an annual event.

Groups buying 50 or more tickets can become eligible for extra privileges, such as sideline passes. For more information, call the BC Lions ticket office at 604.589.ROAR (7627) or go to www.bclions.com.                                 –  Jim Coggins

September 2010