Elks may be looking to sell to private owners after 75 years of community ownership
The Edmonton Elks may be looking to sell to a private ownership group for the first time in the franchise's 75-year history.
The Elks announced that team president and CEO Rick LeLacheur, as well as board chair Tom Richards, provided an update to the Canadian Football League's Board of Governors on its ongoing ownership review on Wednesday.
That update is based on the findings of a special committee working with Park Lane, a sports investment bank that managed the sale of the Montreal Alouettes a year ago.
Richards told reporters in November that the goal of the five-person committee is to ensure “professional football continues to thrive as a member of the Canadian Football League in Edmonton and northern Alberta.”
“The special committee will bring forward recommendations to the club's board of directors, which will ultimately determine the best ownership structure for the club moving forward,” reads a statement from the Elks issued Thursday. “The club has no further updates on the special committee's work at this time and will provide more details when appropriate.”
Edmonton's football team has been community-owned since it was founded in 1949.
The team had an operating loss of $3.3 million in 2022, the fourth straight year it ran at a deficit.
The committee includes board members Richards, Brent Hesje and Darryl Boessenkool, along with previous board members Diane Brickner and Bruce Bentley, who serves as chair.
The franchise has amassed 699 all-time wins - tying it with Calgary for the most in league history - and won 14 Grey Cups, the last coming in 2015 when it finished atop the West Division with a 14-4-0 record.
Edmonton hasn't reached the CFL playoffs since 2019 when it crossed over into the East Division after finishing fourth in the West with an 8-10 record.
Since the CFL resumed play in 2021 - the COVID-19 pandemic forced it to cancel the 2020 season - Edmonton has recorded three straight last-place finishes in the West Division, with records of 3-11-0 in 2021 and 4-14-0 in both 2022 and 2023.
A 30-20 win over Ottawa on Aug. 28 ended a 22-game home losing streak, the longest in North American professional sports history.
The franchise averaged just over 24,700 spectators per game this season - which included a season-low crowd of 19,921. This year's attendance is down significantly from 2015 when the franchise averaged a CFL-high 31,517 fans per game.
Next season, Edmonton will close the upper bowl at Commonwealth Stadium, which has a seating capacity for 56,400 fans.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published March 14, 2024.
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
Indian envoy warns of 'big red line,' days after charges laid in Nijjar case
India's envoy to Canada insists relations between the two countries are positive overall, despite what he describes as 'a lot of noise.'
Stormy Daniels describes meeting Trump during occasionally graphic testimony in hush money trial
With Donald Trump sitting just feet away, Stormy Daniels testified Tuesday at the former president's hush money trial about a sexual encounter the porn actor says they had in 2006 that resulted in her being paid to keep silent during the presidential race 10 years later.
U.S. paused bomb shipment to Israel to signal concerns over Rafah invasion, official says
The U.S. paused a shipment of bombs to Israel last week over concerns that Israel was approaching a decision on launching a full-scale assault on the southern Gaza city of Rafah against the wishes of the U.S.
Former homicide detective explains how police will investigate shooting outside Drake's Bridle Path mansion
Footage from dozens of security cameras in the area of Drake’s Bridle Path mansion could be the key to identifying the suspect responsible for shooting and seriously injuring a security guard outside the rapper’s sprawling home early Tuesday morning, a former Toronto homicide detective says.
Northern Ont. woman makes 'eggstraordinary' find
A chicken farmer near Mattawa made an 'eggstraordinary' find Friday morning when she discovered one of her hens laid an egg close to three times the size of an average large chicken egg.
Susan Buckner, who played spirited cheerleader Patty Simcox in 'Grease,' dead at 72
Susan Buckner, best known for playing peppy Rydell High School cheerleader Patty Simcox in the 1978 classic movie musical 'Grease,' has died. She was 72.
Jeremy Skibicki has 'uphill battle' to prove he's not criminally responsible in Winnipeg killings: legal analysts
Accused killer Jeremy Skibicki could have a challenging time convincing a judge that he is not criminally responsible for the deaths of four Indigenous women, a legal analyst says.
Bye-bye bag fee: Calgary repeals single-use bylaw
A Calgary bylaw requiring businesses to charge a minimum bag fee and only provide single-use items when requested has officially been tossed.
Alcohol believed to be a factor in boating incident after 2 men die: N.S. RCMP
Two Nova Scotia men are dead after a boat they were travelling in sank in the Annapolis River in Granville Centre, N.S., on Monday.