Elks Want New Stadium in Edmonton
The future of the Edmonton Elks has been a topic of discussion as the team is evaluating its ownership structure. The Elks are currently owned by the community, but the potential move to private ownership stems from financial losses, reportedly $12.6 million since 2019.
Another change that Edmonton team president Rick LeLacheur would like to see is a new stadium for the Elks.
Commonwealth Stadium, in use since 1978, is reducing its seating capacity for the 2024 season.
“We need some very high investment into this stadium if this stadium is going to go forward as a CFL stadium,” LeLacheur said. “It’s been the love of the CFL for a lot of years, it’s had a lot of events here, but it’s not the stadium of the future that we have in Regina and Winnipeg and Hamilton and Ottawa.
“If there was an unlimited amount of dollars, I’d build a new stadium. That’s what I’d do, but I don’t have that kind of dollars.”
Commonwealth Stadium has been in use since 1978 with several renovations and construction being done. The stadium seats 56,302, with it being reduced to a capacity of 31,000 starting in 2024 as the upper bowl gets closed. The Elks have a lease with the stadium through the 2027 season.
LeLacheur understands that while change can’t happen overnight, he knows a top issue that the Elks face is their stadium, and needs to be addressed.
“The stadium’s been great for all these years, from ’78, but you look around the CFL now and even by closing the top deck, we’re going to be the fourth largest stadium,” LeLacheur said.“We know it’s got the track that a lot of stadiums don’t have, we know it’s got the pitch that’s a lot more gradual slope than other stadiums. That’s probably the No. 1 (issue) I’ve seen and we can still deal with it, but we all have to work at it together.”
The Elks’ average attendance during the 2023 season was at 22,239 per game. They set a North American professional sports record with 22 straight losses at home.
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