The wait is finally over, and a new era of Edmonton Football has begun. On Tuesday morning, Edmonton Football Team unveiled their highly anticipated name change and will now be known as the “Edmonton Elks. ” Edmonton play-by-play announcer Morley Scott and color analyst Dave Campbell appeared on the Edmonton metropolitan radio station, 630 CHED, alongside a youtube live stream to make the announcement, broadcasting live from Commonwealth Stadium.

The team decided in July of 2020 to drop the name “Eskimos” following numerous calls for a name change and years of controversy. In November of 2020, fans were asked to submit suggestions for new potential names and received 2,047 formal name submissions. These would be narrowed down to a list of 7 possibilities: Elk, Evergreens, Evergolds, Eclipse, Elkhounds, Eagles, and Elements. In early March 2021, trademarks were filed for 2 additional names, “Energy” and “Elks.”

Per Kevin Jesus of Global Edmonton, The teams’ app accidentally leaked the new name slightly early, showing new Elks merch under the new arrivals section.