Sports

'Replacement Referee Night' at Racine Raiders Game this Saturday

Boycotting the NFL this week, but still want to watch football? Soothe your replacement referee rage by dressing as a ref for free admission to the Racine Raiders game this Saturday.

Frustrated with the NFL?

You might want to turn to the Mid-States Football League for your football fix, especially if you’ve decided to boycott the NFL after watching the Packers-Seahawks game last night. The Packers suffered a controversial 14-12 loss to the Seattle Seahawks in which a last-play touchdown appeared to have two blown calls that would have overturned the touchdown. The calls were made by replacement officials, working in place of locked-out, unionized NFL officials.

But the Racine Raiders, a local semi-pro football team, is holding a Replacement Referee Night at 7 p.m. Saturday at the Horlick Athletic Field, 1648 North Memorial Dr. They’ll face the Roscoe Rush in MSFL Western Conference Championship.

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Dan Pfeifer, the assistant director of media relations for the Raiders, said the decision to host the promotional event was in reaction to the game and how people were responding to the outcome of the game on social media sites.

"We decided quickly, why not have a night where we can have a little fun with this?" Pfeifer said.

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If you wear a football official's uniform, you’ll get into the game for free. The team wants to see how creative fans will get with their uniforms, but don’t go too far with it. If your outfit is vulgar, you won’t get into the game free. And if your outfit stands out, a few replacement refs may find themselves out on the field for a “Worst Call of the Night” contest.

"Fans are frustrated with the state of professional football right now," said Raiders president Matthew Snyder. "We want to give them a creative and fun outlet for their frustration." 

And if wearing stripes isn’t your thing, you might still be able to get into the game free if you have a valid college ID, or if you are a youth football player wearing your uniform and you are with a paying adult.

"The Raiders have been offering quality, affordable, family-friendly entertainment at the minor league level for 60 years now," Snyder says. "We don't have the big names of the professional leagues but we have a quality product."

The Raiders finished the regular season 9-0, then won their first-round playoff game 30-3. They will host the Rush 7-2, who have won the MSFL championship the past two seasons.


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