After a carousel of head coaches since John Payne's departure in 1977, the Roughriders hired John Gregory after the 1986 season. Gregory took over a team that had missed the playoffs for ten consecutive seasons. Before the 1987 season started, after almost a decade out of the playoffs and poor attendance saddling the team, the Roughriders felt it was necessary to conduct a telethon to keep the team afloat; the Montreal Alouettes had recently folded early in the season, and the Riders were determined not to let the same fate befall them. The province-wide "Save the Roughriders" telethon was a success in that the team sold enough tickets to keep the team in operation. Also in 1986, team executive Tom Shepherd founded the group "Friends of the Riders" to run an annual "Touchdown Lottery" to further bolster the club's finances. Originally conceived as a one-time fundraiser, it raised almost $22.6 million during its run and operated for 33 years. By the time the lottery was discontinued with Shepherd's retirement in 2019, the club's financial situation had long been stabilized.