Antler up: Elks new name of Edmonton Football Team

| American Football | 06/02/2021

The EE Football Team officially has a new name: the Edmonton Elks.

Nearly a year ago, Edmonton discontinued the use of their former name and set out on finding a new one.

In November 2020, the team asked the public to join in EE Name Time, a call out to help them find the best name for the club. The process resulted in 14,833 submissions with 2,047 unique name entries from all over the world. The information gathered was processed to choose the final candidates that best fit the criteria of the organization.

In February 2021, the list of names was distilled to seven choices, which were chosen based on the findings of brand sessions held in 2020. The survey received an astounding 38,761 responses, which were broken down by location, age, and other key demographics for those who submitted their preference.

Specific outreach was done with the team’s season seat holders, alumni, players, partners, coaches, and the general public. All stakeholders were given an opportunity to participate, with plenty of time to engage.

Across all of the respondents, it became clear that Elk was highly favoured through all demographic categories. When the team heard from the players and coaches, who overwhelmingly voted for Elk, the choices became much clearer.

After lengthy debate, consultation with linguistics experts from the Oxford Dictionary and the University of Alberta’s linguistics department, the name “Elks” was finally chosen, adding the “s” to the original choice “Elk” — the new name reflects the speed, strength, and resilience of the green and gold and Northern Alberta.

Much work was done to keep the selection confidential while official team merchandise was developed and a full brand package to support the new name was created.

“The entire process has been exciting. It has allowed us to keep our iconic green and gold colours as well as the double E, while exploring new opportunities with our new primary logo, secondary logo and word mark,” Presson said in a statement.

“This merging of the old and the new allows us a continuation of our great history and tradition. Listening to everyone through engagement slowed the process but taking the time to listen allowed us to be rigorous, and thoughtful in our pursuit of excellence.”

“The name was ultimately chosen by the fans. ‘Elks’ finished first or second among all segments who participated. We are looking forward to preserving our heritage and combining that with the opportunities to usher in a new name and new brand. Please join us in protecting and honouring the past, and developing the future.”

The 2021 CFL season, set to start in August 2021, will mark the debut of the new name on field.

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