Attendance (cc: SectionQ)

[EsksTMac]

SectionQ, I was going to respond to your message in the last game thread but figured this might be deserving of its own thread.

I live in Winnipeg, of course, my partner is Bob Irving’s daughter so I’m attending Bombers games often, usually against my wishes. However, even as an Edmonton fan, I can go to any random Bomber game and have a great experience.

The pregame tailgate features $6 beers, $3 hot dogs, and Winnipeg has done an amazing job with the atmosphere in the stadium. If you’re looking to party and socialize, the rum hut and the area surrounding it is your place to be. If you want to go out at halftime, they have a huge outdoor section with live bands and/or music, bars, where you can take your alcohol out and even buy alcohol out there (until halfway through the third quarter). PS- shoutout to the EE fans I see every EE game in Winnipeg who come out, have a drink with me against my Bombers fan family.

As a season ticket holder, she gets concession discounts, merchandise discounts, etc.

Does Edmonton do any of this? What is provided to their season ticket holders? Sectionq’s post definitely made the tickets sound fairly expensive.

I always love coming to Commonwealth. I haven’t been back since the name change but it’s only a matter of time now since they hired Chris Morris and Ed. I’m hoping other Eskimos fans who’ve left will return now that it’s starting to feel right in the building again. Bob was talking with one of his Edmonton media friends, and his media friend estimated that a massive chunk hasn’t returned to games because of the name change. I can’t remember if he said it was a quarter or half, but it was a significant number.

Now that the wins are coming, it can’t be difficult to market this, change this, lower prices, lower concessions, create family discounts, SOMETHING - to get people into the doors. At the same time, you don’t want to piss off your season ticket holders, and that’s where those people need to be compensated to make it worth their while to get season tickets.

Times have changed, COVID changed things probably more than any other reason (name change, losses, etc). But now should be the time to reevaluate and get that stadium 30,000+ people every game.

Curious everyone’s thoughts. Maybe this will bring some old posters out of retirement (if they’re still lurking).

[Evil Dr. Len]

Here's the link to the EE season ticket holder perks page
https://www.goelks.com/perks

The tailgate is still centralized to who you know. I've come to know The Turf District podcast and they feed for free but do have the option to tip. I know Looner from this forum is beside them but admittedly i was too shy to introduce myself at the home opener. On the other side of the Turf District is Janelle who gives out boozy cupcakes for free. Behind the Turf District is The Elks Herd, they feed for free with the option to tip. Beside the Elks Herd are Katie and Daryl and they always have Jello shots. On the opposite end is the Spirit of Edmonton for a "socialable" and they are in the middle of Edmonton Sports Talk and Brown Law Insurance who both usually give out free snacks. That's a lot of words to say you can do the tailgate for free and be well fed.

The name isn't changing, if thats the reason people dont come, frankly they can stay away.

Come to the game, call them the Eskimos, sing the fight song with the original words, have a good time. I like to think I'm part of the majority who doesn't give a crap what you call them, just dont be an ass about it.

[Looner]

Here's the link to the EE season ticket holder perks page
https://www.goelks.com/perks

The tailgate is still centralized to who you know. I've come to know The Turf District podcast and they feed for free but do have the option to tip. I know Looner from this forum is beside them but admittedly i was too shy to introduce myself at the home opener. On the other side of the Turf District is Janelle who gives out boozy cupcakes for free. Behind the Turf District is The Elks Herd, they feed for free with the option to tip. Beside the Elks Herd are Katie and Daryl and they always have Jello shots. On the opposite end is the Spirit of Edmonton for a "socialable" and they are in the middle of Edmonton Sports Talk and Brown Law Insurance who both usually give out free snacks. That's a lot of words to say you can do the tailgate for free and be well fed.

The name isn't changing, if thats the reason people dont come, frankly they can stay away.

Come to the game, call them the Eskimos, sing the fight song with the original words, have a good time. I like to think I'm part of the majority who doesn't give a crap what you call them, just dont be an ass about it.

Oh man, don't be shy. I'll ask Andrew or Mike to introduce us next time.

I have been bringing plenty of food as well but am also a little shy so we end up going home with a bunch as well.

[eskfan152]

Oh man, don't be shy. I'll ask Andrew or Mike to introduce us next time.

I have been bringing plenty of food as well but am also a little shy so we end up going home with a bunch as well.

I’ll be by to see you Friday Looner! Do you remember your stall # now? If not I’ll track Mike down.

[Looner]

I’ll be by to see you Friday Looner! Do you remember your stall # now? If not I’ll track Mike down.

I believe its stall 195. We are in the row closest to Clarke Park (Furthest south row) and directly to the east of mike and andrew

[Sectionq]

SectionQ, I was going to respond to your message in the last game thread but figured this might be deserving of its own thread.

I live in Winnipeg, of course, my partner is Bob Irving’s daughter so I’m attending Bombers games often, usually against my wishes. However, even as an Edmonton fan, I can go to any random Bomber game and have a great experience.

The pregame tailgate features $6 beers, $3 hot dogs, and Winnipeg has done an amazing job with the atmosphere in the stadium. If you’re looking to party and socialize, the rum hut and the area surrounding it is your place to be. If you want to go out at halftime, they have a huge outdoor section with live bands and/or music, bars, where you can take your alcohol out and even buy alcohol out there (until halfway through the third quarter). PS- shoutout to the EE fans I see every EE game in Winnipeg who come out, have a drink with me against my Bombers fan family.

As a season ticket holder, she gets concession discounts, merchandise discounts, etc.

Does Edmonton do any of this? What is provided to their season ticket holders? Sectionq’s post definitely made the tickets sound fairly expensive.

I always love coming to Commonwealth. I haven’t been back since the name change but it’s only a matter of time now since they hired Chris Morris and Ed. I’m hoping other Eskimos fans who’ve left will return now that it’s starting to feel right in the building again. Bob was talking with one of his Edmonton media friends, and his media friend estimated that a massive chunk hasn’t returned to games because of the name change. I can’t remember if he said it was a quarter or half, but it was a significant number.

Now that the wins are coming, it can’t be difficult to market this, change this, lower prices, lower concessions, create family discounts, SOMETHING - to get people into the doors. At the same time, you don’t want to piss off your season ticket holders, and that’s where those people need to be compensated to make it worth their while to get season tickets.

Times have changed, COVID changed things probably more than any other reason (name change, losses, etc). But now should be the time to reevaluate and get that stadium 30,000+ people every game.

Curious everyone’s thoughts. Maybe this will bring some old posters out of retirement (if they’re still lurking).

I feel for Morris because I do think the previous Board Members and Pres's really burned a lot of bridges with many in the fan base. One of them is the name. I know there are some who say people need to get over the name and it shouldn't matter and there is apart of me that agrees. But, at the same time I get it when it comes to how some don't want to come back because of the name because I feel it. All my memories are of the Eskimos. I have a helmet shaped key holder in my garage of the Eskimos. My dad has a plate on his truck of the Eskimos. I don't have an emotion attachment to the Elks like I do the Eskimos. It's just not there.

I heard Morris on Sports 1440 a few weeks ago talking about the team, all the changes and one thing he mentioned is how badly the name changed hurt the organization, how it shouldn't have happened and how much of a hurdle it has been to try and rebuild the team in the community. The Eskimos were a well established, mostly well respected, well known brand that was lost. Then he said something about how changing it back wasn't viable. I'd like to know why?

I get everything costs money but how much are we talking? I know it's not my money but to me, if you have potentially 1000's of fans who won't come back ever as long as it's the Elks, if you have companies that won't sponsor the team, buy tickets or boxes because of the name, why wouldn't you want to go back if that's all it will take? I don't think you are going to lose the people who go now because they kept going when it changed to the Elks. Maybe people who used to be season ticket holders and went all the time when they were the Esks still won't go because too much time has passed but what if they will come back? I don't know the amount of season ticket holder there are now but I think when we used to have our own, it was in the area of 20K. Now it might be in the few thousands (hopefully someone here can answer that). But what if doing virtually nothing other than signing a few documents, you go back to the Eskimos and your seasons double or triple? OR your seasons double or more AND for the rest of those 20K, maybe they can't/won't commit to seasons but you get them in the door multiple times per year instead of never.

I just wonder because hearing Morris talk about how hard it's been due to all the sins the previous people did and one of the worst was the name change, I was kind of surprised when he said changing it back wasn't viable. Rebuilding people's trust to me is way harder than just changing a name that would make almost every single person happy and eliminate a massive reason why people say they won't go.

[Looner]

Rebuilding people's trust to me is way harder than just changing a name that would make almost every single person happy and eliminate a massive reason why people say they won't go.

If it were as simple as that I think they would do it but I don't think changing the name back will make as much of an impact on season seat sales as you think. There are still people, including sponsors, out there that think Eskimos is a derogatory term and would go the other way if they changed back. As much as people like to pin the decline in attendance on the name change, I believe it has a lot more to do with an ever changing economy that sees people with less expendable income and the state of the team since the name got changed. As much of a die hard as I am, I found it difficult to go to games that I knew we didn't have a chance of winning.

The long and the short of it is, if we win consistently people will come back as Edmonton is a football city and those that went and are going to games are there for the game not the name.

[eskfan152]

I feel for Morris because I do think the previous Board Members and Pres's really burned a lot of bridges with many in the fan base. One of them is the name. I know there are some who say people need to get over the name and it shouldn't matter and there is apart of me that agrees. But, at the same time I get it when it comes to how some don't want to come back because of the name because I feel it. All my memories are of the Eskimos. I have a helmet shaped key holder in my garage of the Eskimos. My dad has a plate on his truck of the Eskimos. I don't have an emotion attachment to the Elks like I do the Eskimos. It's just not there.

I heard Morris on Sports 1440 a few weeks ago talking about the team, all the changes and one thing he mentioned is how badly the name changed hurt the organization, how it shouldn't have happened and how much of a hurdle it has been to try and rebuild the team in the community. The Eskimos were a well established, mostly well respected, well known brand that was lost. Then he said something about how changing it back wasn't viable. I'd like to know why?

I get everything costs money but how much are we talking? I know it's not my money but to me, if you have potentially 1000's of fans who won't come back ever as long as it's the Elks, if you have companies that won't sponsor the team, buy tickets or boxes because of the name, why wouldn't you want to go back if that's all it will take? I don't think you are going to lose the people who go now because they kept going when it changed to the Elks. Maybe people who used to be season ticket holders and went all the time when they were the Esks still won't go because too much time has passed but what if they will come back? I don't know the amount of season ticket holder there are now but I think when we used to have our own, it was in the area of 20K. Now it might be in the few thousands (hopefully someone here can answer that). But what if doing virtually nothing other than signing a few documents, you go back to the Eskimos and your seasons double or triple? OR your seasons double or more AND for the rest of those 20K, maybe they can't/won't commit to seasons but you get them in the door multiple times per year instead of never.

I just wonder because hearing Morris talk about how hard it's been due to all the sins the previous people did and one of the worst was the name change, I was kind of surprised when he said changing it back wasn't viable. Rebuilding people's trust to me is way harder than just changing a name that would make almost every single person happy and eliminate a massive reason why people say they won't go.

In another interview Morris said they were at appx 20000 season tickets and have dropped to around 7000. And reiterated that the name change was crippling.

Now I’m an Eskimo fan for life. Me and my boys (11 and 13) still holler for the Esks when we’re at the games, we still sing the fight song the way it was meant to be sung, and last game it was great to hear a “Let’s Go Eskimos!” chant fire up in our section. That being said, I do feel too much time has probably passed to change back to Eskimos. Even though Bel Aire Direct and Boston Pizza ultimately pulled their sponsorship anyways (I will never forgive or support either of those two crap companies!). I don’t think the league would ever allow them to switch back to Eskimos either.

Unfortunately I think the best chance they’d have is another complete rebrand. That would cost a hell of a lot more than rebranding back to the Eskimos. The Elks name and rebrand has been a colossal failure. Everything from the name to the logo absolutely suck in my eyes. And it certainly hasn’t helped the team has completely sucked (until now) under the rebrand. Perhaps things would have been different and more accepted had they been a winning team the first couple of years, but all we have to associate the name and rebrand with is losing.

Another thing that I don’t think helped their cause in the eyes of their long time season ticket holders was closing the upper deck. For over 25 years I watched the games from the 55 yard line in row 71. I absolutely loved the view of the game, stadium and city from my seats. Many of the fans who were up there when I first got my seats there were still there when they ripped them away from us and we had all been watching home games from there for a lot of years. To get the same price point when they closed it would have put me in the crappy half back seats without a drink holder behind the end zone, and would have been about a 100 yard difference from where I was seated! Now I have to spend substantially more to sit on the 10 yard line and my view of the game is not nearly as good as I had it before. If I was allowed, I would still walk up there and sit all by myself just because even though I was a long way up, the view of the game was so clean! If it was 3rd and 1 I could tell if they got it right away, now if the play is beyond the 30 going the other way I have no clue until the refs signal it. I do get condensing the crowd, but I’m still bitter that it was ripped away from me and that I’m now paying a lot more for a lesser view of the game.

I really hope they can sell some tickets to Fridays game as they sure do need the support and they’re playing some great football right now. It’s fun walking into the stadium thinking that we’re going to win tonight! Haven’t felt that way in a long time! And hopefully I’ll be taking my kids to their first playoff game this year.

[ben_the_eskimo]

The name change was a devastating blow that came at a time when the list of problems with the club was already a mile long. Changing the name was just the cherry on top that made things go from bad to worse. From the moment they stepped back on the field in 2021 it was evident that this team had absolutely zero identity from the BOD right on down to the practice squad. This was a team with no unity, no direction and no vision.

Thankfully Larry and Deb stepped up and changed all of that. I have come to accept the name change and am at peace with it moving forward. I never gave up my season seats or even missed a game despite being disappointed about the change. That being said if Morris announced tomorrow that it was changing back I would be ecstatic.

[Sectionq]

If it were as simple as that I think they would do it but I don't think changing the name back will make as much of an impact on season seat sales as you think. There are still people, including sponsors, out there that think Eskimos is a derogatory term and would go the other way if they changed back. As much as people like to pin the decline in attendance on the name change, I believe it has a lot more to do with an ever changing economy that sees people with less expendable income and the state of the team since the name got changed. As much of a die hard as I am, I found it difficult to go to games that I knew we didn't have a chance of winning.

The long and the short of it is, if we win consistently people will come back as Edmonton is a football city and those that went and are going to games are there for the game not the name.

I guess we will differ on the name change but I do think the name change is more of a thing than you make it out to be and IMO if the president says it was a crippling blow, I find it hard to dismiss that because, and this is not a shot at you at all, who Morris talks too is going to be way more far reaching and there would be way more than you could ever talk too. Your loyalty to the team is awesome but I am sure the people you talk too in comparison to who the Pres talks too, that circle is relatively small and focused. The people who you talk to are your circle of friend, neighbours, work people, who sits around you and who is around your tailgate area. I am sure it's a lot but I doubt it's as many as the Pres. I doubt you are talking to former ticket holders and former sponsors from other Cities in the province as an example.

IMO for many fans to want to follow a team through thick and thin, there is an emotional connection that happened probably when they were young. When they changed the name, for many fans, myself included, that emotion connection was severed. It was like the team died and a new one took it's place. That how I feel and I bet that's what many others feel. I still cheer for the Edmonton Football team but all my emotional attachment was to the Eskimos. All those years of sitting in freezing stands for Grey Cups around the Country, I was there cheering the Eskimos. Not the Elks. The Elks are just a team wearing the same colors as my team. Them winning some games this year makes me think about them more and makes me want to watch them more than the past but I don't have the emotional attachment when I watch them now that I did before. I don't know if I will ever have that attachment again to the team because I feel like my teams traditions and legacy was thrown away because of money. They caved to 1 sponsor who pulled the pin on them almost right after they changed the name. So it's not the same to me.
The Eskimos won all those Grey Cup.
Gizmo my all time fav player was an Eskimo, not an Elk.
The term Once and Eskimo, always an Eskimo is dead. There is no Eskimo anymore.
The term B.O.N.E. The Brotherhood of Nasty Eskimos doesn't exist anymore.
Even the damn Brian Hall song is different. It's cheering fight fight fight on Eskimos. Not Elks or whatever the hell they say now.

For many in the City, not ever going to a game because of the name change is maybe a touch harsh but I get it. I get the sentiment that it shouldn't matter what the name is and for those that it doesn't matter, you cheer for the City, in am seriousness, that's truly awesome but I think there are a lot of people out there that were deeply offended by them changing the name for the reasons they did and for many of them, they won't ever come back while it's called the Elks. I think it would make a difference for a lot of people. It shouldn't but I think it would. But it appears to be a mute point because they don't appear to be changing it. Going to the EE is better than nothing I guess.

[Sectionq]

The name change was a devastating blow that came at a time when the list of problems with the club was already a mile long. Changing the name was just the cherry on top that made things go from bad to worse. From the moment they stepped back on the field in 2021 it was evident that this team had absolutely zero identity from the BOD right on down to the practice squad. This was a team with no unity, no direction and no vision.

Thankfully Larry and Deb stepped up and changed all of that. I have come to accept the name change and am at peace with it moving forward. I never gave up my season seats or even missed a game despite being disappointed about the change. That being said if Morris announced tomorrow that it was changing back I would be ecstatic.

1000% I agree and I bet if he did, they would see a surge of fans instantly. The name shouldn't stop people but IMO it does and it stops a lot.

[ben_the_eskimo]

1000% I agree and I bet if he did, they would see a surge of fans instantly. The name shouldn't stop people but IMO it does and it stops a lot.

Unfortunately, based on the conversations I have with people I believe you are right.

Even now that they’re winning, I’m finding more people are talking about them and the fact that they’re looking good so far which is great, but on the flip side, I’m finding that those conversations inevitably always steer toward the name change eventually. In my experience casual fans and Edmontonians that don’t follow the team super closely don’t understand the change and think it’s dumb.

[Sectionq]

In another interview Morris said they were at appx 20000 season tickets and have dropped to around 7000. And reiterated that the name change was crippling.

Now I’m an Eskimo fan for life. Me and my boys (11 and 13) still holler for the Esks when we’re at the games, we still sing the fight song the way it was meant to be sung, and last game it was great to hear a “Let’s Go Eskimos!” chant fire up in our section. That being said, I do feel too much time has probably passed to change back to Eskimos. Even though Bel Aire Direct and Boston Pizza ultimately pulled their sponsorship anyways (I will never forgive or support either of those two crap companies!). I don’t think the league would ever allow them to switch back to Eskimos either.

Unfortunately I think the best chance they’d have is another complete rebrand. That would cost a hell of a lot more than rebranding back to the Eskimos. The Elks name and rebrand has been a colossal failure. Everything from the name to the logo absolutely suck in my eyes. And it certainly hasn’t helped the team has completely sucked (until now) under the rebrand. Perhaps things would have been different and more accepted had they been a winning team the first couple of years, but all we have to associate the name and rebrand with is losing.

Another thing that I don’t think helped their cause in the eyes of their long time season ticket holders was closing the upper deck. For over 25 years I watched the games from the 55 yard line in row 71. I absolutely loved the view of the game, stadium and city from my seats. Many of the fans who were up there when I first got my seats there were still there when they ripped them away from us and we had all been watching home games from there for a lot of years. To get the same price point when they closed it would have put me in the crappy half back seats without a drink holder behind the end zone, and would have been about a 100 yard difference from where I was seated! Now I have to spend substantially more to sit on the 10 yard line and my view of the game is not nearly as good as I had it before. If I was allowed, I would still walk up there and sit all by myself just because even though I was a long way up, the view of the game was so clean! If it was 3rd and 1 I could tell if they got it right away, now if the play is beyond the 30 going the other way I have no clue until the refs signal it. I do get condensing the crowd, but I’m still bitter that it was ripped away from me and that I’m now paying a lot more for a lesser view of the game.

I really hope they can sell some tickets to Fridays game as they sure do need the support and they’re playing some great football right now. It’s fun walking into the stadium thinking that we’re going to win tonight! Haven’t felt that way in a long time! And hopefully I’ll be taking my kids to their first playoff game this year.

I am not trying to diminish anyone that had tickets way up high for a long time but closing the upper deck was something that had to happen. It had to happen economically because they would be paying ushers to have to man upper sections with maybe a couple of rows of people in them. I saw the visuals, there were games when you'd see entire sections of the upper stands with 20 people in them. Keeping them open economically even for safety reasons for that few people made no sense.

That stadium is not a great venue to start with, it's way, way too big. A stadium of 30-35K max is what they need. When I used to go, even in lousy weather they'd get high 20's and when they were spread out over a 60000 seat stadium it looked empty. Then you cut that by 1/3 on a good day and you'd have entire upper sections with 10 people in there. I am sure they lost some fans when the upper deck was closed but they had the upper deck open for YEARS after the name change and the majority of those fans were long gone before they finally closed the upper deck for economic reasons.

You had seats at the 55 yard line row 71 so right in the middle. So what about people in row 80. I used to see some people sitting up there. They say yes to you but no to them? Let's say they only kept the upper sections around mid field. So what about the people in say section D2, that's around the 30. They keep say F2, G3, H2 and T2, U2, S2 that are on either side of mid field and the mid field but say sorry to all the rest because there are people who probably had tickets just as long as you did a few sections over. So you get to keep yours but they don't, where do you draw the line?

[bone]

I guess we will differ on the name change but I do think the name change is more of a thing than you make it out to be and IMO if the president says it was a crippling blow, I find it hard to dismiss that because, and this is not a shot at you at all, who Morris talks too is going to be way more far reaching and there would be way more than you could ever talk too. Your loyalty to the team is awesome but I am sure the people you talk too in comparison to who the Pres talks too, that circle is relatively small and focused. The people who you talk to are your circle of friend, neighbours, work people, who sits around you and who is around your tailgate area. I am sure it's a lot but I doubt it's as many as the Pres. I doubt you are talking to former ticket holders and former sponsors from other Cities in the province as an example.

IMO for many fans to want to follow a team through thick and thin, there is an emotional connection that happened probably when they were young. When they changed the name, for many fans, myself included, that emotion connection was severed. It was like the team died and a new one took it's place. That how I feel and I bet that's what many others feel. I still cheer for the Edmonton Football team but all my emotional attachment was to the Eskimos. All those years of sitting in freezing stands for Grey Cups around the Country, I was there cheering the Eskimos. Not the Elks. The Elks are just a team wearing the same colors as my team. Them winning some games this year makes me think about them more and makes me want to watch them more than the past but I don't have the emotional attachment when I watch them now that I did before. I don't know if I will ever have that attachment again to the team because I feel like my teams traditions and legacy was thrown away because of money. They caved to 1 sponsor who pulled the pin on them almost right after they changed the name. So it's not the same to me.
The Eskimos won all those Grey Cup.
Gizmo my all time fav player was an Eskimo, not an Elk.
The term Once and Eskimo, always an Eskimo is dead. There is no Eskimo anymore.
The term B.O.N.E. The Brotherhood of Nasty Eskimos doesn't exist anymore.
Even the damn Brian Hall song is different. It's cheering fight fight fight on Eskimos. Not Elks or whatever the hell they say now.

For many in the City, not ever going to a game because of the name change is maybe a touch harsh but I get it. I get the sentiment that it shouldn't matter what the name is and for those that it doesn't matter, you cheer for the City, in am seriousness, that's truly awesome but I think there are a lot of people out there that were deeply offended by them changing the name for the reasons they did and for many of them, they won't ever come back while it's called the Elks. I think it would make a difference for a lot of people. It shouldn't but I think it would. But it appears to be a mute point because they don't appear to be changing it. Going to the EE is better than nothing I guess.

For what it's worth, the term one an eskimo, always an eskimo is being uttered again. B.O.N.E. neverr really went away (though they briefly tried to make it Nasty Elks). And everyone in the building sings the fight song as it should be. Very few if any, follows the words on the jumbotron anymore.

[bone]

Unfortunately, based on the conversations I have with people I believe you are right.

Even now that they’re winning, I’m finding more people are talking about them and the fact that they’re looking good so far which is great, but on the flip side, I’m finding that those conversations inevitably always steer toward the name change eventually. In my experience casual fans and Edmontonians that don’t follow the team super closely don’t understand the change and think it’s dumb.

Yeah, me and my wife had a brief chat with Brinkman's parents last week before the game and they were talking about the nice weather and expecting a nice crowd and when I mentioned the name thing still hangs over the team quite a bit for ticket sales their reactions seemed surprised which was surprising to me.