hile the Green and Gold are bleeding even more red ink, shareholders of Edmonton’s Canadian Football League franchise heard Wednesday at its annual general meeting there’s hope on the horizon.
The Edmonton Elks reported a net operating loss of $3.9 million for 2023, up from the $3.3 million it lost the previous CFL season, mainly due to reduced revenues that were $3.98 million below budget.
The reason for the mounting losses: lower attendance affecting ticket revenue at the team’s home of Commonwealth Stadium, board treasurer Kara Flynn said at the meeting, which in turn affected sales of premium seating, merchandise and concessions, which were down year-over-year to $52 million from $6.6 million.
In years prior, the Elks recorded net operating losses of $1.1 million in 2021(opens in a new tab), $7.2 million during the 2020 campaign cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic and $1.1 million(opens in a new tab) in 2019.
Despite the mounting losses, the team, which is celebrating its 75th season(opens in a new tab) in 2024, has enough capital to “meet all its current and anticipated obligations,” Flynn told the meeting.
And beyond this season, the Elks could operate under a new ownership structure.
Board chairman Tom Richards, an alumnus who lined up at slotback in the late 1980s, told shareholders he couldn’t give a firm timeframe for a potential sale from the current ownership group to a new one.
He said the board’s special committee in charge of finding a new owner has whittled the number of potential ones down to a shortlist and that he “would love to have this done in the next couple of months.”
The process of exploring a change in Elks ownership began in November(opens in a new tab) and has seen more than 20 interested parties sign non-disclosure agreements.
Richards said they have several interested groups, both local and from outside the city, inquiring about ownership of the team.
