New Ownership for the Edmonton Elks

[ModAdmin]

Dave Naylor
@TSNDaveNaylor
According to a source, the new owner of the @GoElks is Larry Thompson. Comes from the construction business, local, longtime season ticket holder. #CFL #Elks

[Throw Long Bannatyne]

Dave Naylor
@TSNDaveNaylor
According to a source, the new owner of the @GoElks is Larry Thompson. Comes from the construction business, local, longtime season ticket holder. #CFL #Elks

We'll see how this goes, if the first think he does is change the name back to the Eskimos, it will show he's reactionary and all may not go so well.

[ModAdmin]

Nice quote what's your point?

The owner doesn't coach.  He is a builder though.

My point was to post a CFL news item.  Hope you are okay with that.

[Jesse]

Nice quote what's your point?

The owner doesn't coach.  He is a builder though.

What is your problem? He was sharing CFL news.

[Blue In BC]

That's good news. Now let the other decisions start. They may consider who are the coaches in 2025 but unless they tank this season soon, I don't think that happens in 2024. If there are no new coaches, then rosters fall into the same status qup more or less.

[blue_or_die]

We'll see how this goes, if the first think he does is change the name back to the Eskimos, it will show he's reactionary and all may not go so well.

I'm not advocating for a name change or anything, but you can certainly argue that it didn't exactly go so well when they changed their name in the first place.

[ichabod_crane]

Larry Thompson?! Was he not a former Bombers receiver many moons ago?   

[Blueforlife]

What is your problem? He was sharing CFL news.

He is just doing his thing but this one was pretty weird.

Nothing's changed but the surrounding bulls#it that has grown (PJ quote, Off he goes -No Code).

[TecnoGenius]

We'll see how this goes, if the first think he does is change the name back to the Eskimos, it will show he's reactionary and all may not go so well.

If he changes the name back to Name-That-Shall-Not-Be-Spoken, then I'll buy season tickets!  And I'm thousands of miles away!  Such a move would show massive attachments.

But it's a silly thing to contemplate since it'll never occur.  So back to reality:

Any new owner is always a good thing.  However, now the "community" has lost control and it becomes more like The Caretaker situation.  I love that he's local and a huge fan.  That goes a long way to keeping him in it for the long haul.

I also wonder if the change in status hampers EDM's ability to get extra breaks from the gov?  (Future stadium upgrades, new stadium, etc.)

[drahgon]

...I love that he's local and a huge fan.  That goes a long way to keeping him in it for the long haul...

He's living every fan's dream. For the league's sake, lets home he can turn that franchise around, similar to BC's new(ish) owner.

[GOLDMEMBER]

Nice quote what's your point?

The owner doesn't coach.  He is a builder though.

Give it a rest!

[pdirks67]

You'd think a passionate owner would be good for the team. I'm not sure why he wouldn't just put the name change rumours to bed immediately though. It's divisive and it's been dealt with. Time to figure out the future.

[bomb squad]

You'd think a passionate owner would be good for the team. I'm not sure why he wouldn't just put the name change rumours to bed immediately though. It's divisive and it's been dealt with. Time to figure out the future.

Maybe because he's not ruling it out?

[Sir Blue and Gold]

Sounds to me like he's absolutely going to change the name.

[blue_or_die]

Sounds to me like he's absolutely going to change the name.

That will be weird if he does.

Not only would it be a flip flop, but I can't imagine TSN saying the word "Eskimo" on air in this day and age.

I'm faaaar from being politically correct, but it gives me the ick saying it even in my head. Just super outdated and never used.

I think the new guy would be better served to do a well thought out campaign that's centered around the fact that this is a franchise reboot, admit the transition was handled non-optimally we'll say, and more than anything lean into the horrible product on the field as the main reason the team has hit rock bottom. "Our once proud organization has found itself in a bad spot, but I'm a proud, lifelong fan and I have the keys to the franchise now. I will make our club proud once again (but running a good organization on and off the field)".

One mistake I thought they made when they transitioned to Elks was doing so abruptly and almost kinda making it seem like they were ashamed of who they are/were rather than saying "we are simply taking a new step forward".

Fully understand wanting to actually start fresh with a new brand to engrain that on the market, but I actually think a softer approach would have gone over better, especially the base which is paying the bills. I'm talking small things like using "EE" every where possible instead of "Elks". For example, they started out with the antler helmet, and while I thought it was cool, had they just kept the one they eventually switched to now with the "EE", it wouldn't have looked like they were dumping everything. On their jerseys, instead of saying "Elks" in a large font (because the word is so short), could have said "EDMONTON". It would give a sense of pride to it and still say to the fans "we are Edmonton's team".

Speaking of their uniforms, anyone else find it weird that they made a new logo for the Elks when they changed the name and it's nowhere to be found on their uniform, at least that I can find on TV?