ELKS GOING ALL OUT FOR OPENING NIGHT
Team doing its part to prime Edmonton for the return of Canadian football action
Aggressively teaming with CFL core clubs to end the Xfl-merger madness Wednesday, the Edmonton Elks are now focusing their aggression on the future with unprecedented energy and enthusiasm.
Get ready for the biggest regular-season promotion in their 72-year history.
On Thursday, the franchise unveiled preliminary plans for their opening night celebrations at Commonwealth Stadium, the first step of a massive plan to inspire Edmonton fans to fill the stands and show their support for the new Elks name and branding, the return of threedown, 110-yard Canadian football and to welcome fans back in the stands after a 19-month absence.
“We see our first home game this season as being an even bigger first game of the season than normal,” said president and CEO Chris Presson. “When our players come out through the tunnel on Aug. 7, we won't have played host to a home game in almost two calendar years,” he said of the 677 days between games.
“Everyone has been through a lot and we want to set the stage for Edmonton to celebrate. We want our community, our fans and our sponsors to feel appreciated that they hung in there with us.”
The opener against Ottawa will, first of all, celebrate the new Elks logo with a rare giveaway promotion — a minimum of 35,000 T-shirts featuring the new Elks logo. Supply is the problem beyond that number.
“Our new logo has been a runaway hit and for opening night, we'll be giving a free `antler up' T-shirt to the first 35,000 that purchase tickets,” said Presson.
Also involved in preliminary planning is a special ceremony being developed to acknowledge Edmonton Eskimos players of the past as “they pass the torch to our current Edmonton Elks players and help launch our new brand on the field,” said Presson.
The first of season-long promotions directed at young fans will be launched featuring a free soft drink and popcorn for every fan under the age of 12. For the second game, each kid will receive a free Popsicle and mini hotdog, and so it will go throughout the season. It's all still being built, but the idea is to create a party atmosphere. Starting on opening night, there will be happy hour specials in the north end zone.
A refreshed look for the uniforms with “Edmonton” replacing “Eskimos” on the front and new antler-logo gold helmets donned by the team for the season will be unveiled as the players emerge from a new tunnel instead of the previous inflatable helmet. An entire array of other cosmetic changes will be revealed on the field and throughout the stadium.
There will be the naming and introduction of a new mascot. Bryan Hall will sing a new reworked fight song after the third quarter.
A special rendering of the national anthem is planned along with several other surprises, including some sort of elk call activation planned.
A fireworks show will cap the evening.
Other activations, entertainment and details will be announced Monday at the ticket launch by the team that opens training camp on the weekend.
For a sellout, the Elks have exactly one month to sell about 35,000 tickets over and above their season ticket count in the now 56,302-seat Commonwealth Stadium.
“Our season tickets have moved well and we sold close to 1,000 new season seats since the new name launch and the initial uptake for our three-game packs has also done well. We believe there's a real pent-up enthusiasm. People are telling us they really want that special outdoor experience that Commonwealth Stadium has always delivered.”
Internally, the minimum goal is to top the 40,113 league-high turnstile total in 2019 for the Calgary-edmonton Labour Day game, prior to walk-up game day sales.
The defending Grey Cup champion Winnipeg Blue Bombers and Saskatchewan Roughriders — the two other community-owned clubs believed to have joined the Elks leading the push to end the effort to partner or merge with the XFL — are also declaring efforts to open the season with sellouts.
Presson said the franchise in Edmonton intends to be making a statement with the delivery of not just the opener but every one of its home games this season, which includes a visit by the Montreal Alouettes a week later. The Calgary Stampeders and Bombers visit in September and Winnipeg is back again in October along with the Grey Cup finalist Hamilton Tiger-cats.
The Roughriders close out the seven-game home schedule here in November.
The bottom line is the Elks are attempting to do their part to build the event, but it's Edmonton that has to make the statement. I'm betting they will. If the new single bet laws kick in by opening night, if the over-under is 40,113, put me down for the over.