Breadcrumb Trail Links
Published Nov 26, 2023 • Last updated 5 minutes ago • 2 minute read
Edmonton Elks quarterback Tre Ford (right) and Mark Korte (65) celebrate a touchdown against the Winnipeg Blue Bombers during first half CFL action in Edmonton, Alta., on Thursday, August 10, 2023. Jason Franson/THE CANADIAN PRESS Photo by JASON FRANSON /THE CANADIAN PRESS
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Thursday’s press conference held by the Edmonton Elks announcing to the free world a special committee met and decided private ownership is an option, ignites a burning question in the ever-changing global economic mega machine.
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Will the Edmonton Elks, finally, put the “E” in eBay?
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Imagine that, there, Grampa: buying a Canadian Football League franchise online — not to be confused, of course, with the D-line or O-line.
What type of triple-minted super-duper never-ever-never-plan would you need in your auto-fill computer browser gizmo for such a historic, which it would certainly be, transaction?
Now that we’ve enjoyed the brand new Sunday Smile — I sure did — let’s be serious and give into the golden crystal ball and examine the financial future of the Elks.
We’ve had some experience with such an issue.
Back in the mid-1990s, a cashless Peter Pocklington unloaded the Edmonton Oilers, after he threatened — we think, right? — to move them to Les Alexander in Houston for $70 million. It was 1998: Pocklington had lost $6 million that season.
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The Edmonton Investors Group, a 39-member organization, was formed and, together, bought the team from Pocklington for US$70 million and are thought by many, including this laptop captain, to have kept the National Hockey League, and specifically the Oilers, in Edmonton.
Yes, there were tens of millions of dollars at play. Had to be: it was a significant business deal.
But I was at that press conference at the Shaw Conference Centre, and I honestly felt the community spirit in waves.
EIG was made up of savvy Edmonton businesspeople, with help from Lloydminster. They all had Edmonton in their best interests.
And I’ll bet my bottom dollar the dean of hockey coaches, Clare Drake, was looking north across the river from the University of Alberta with a smile.
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Because EIG was a living example of Drake’s famous unselfish creed.
“It’s amazing what you can accomplish when nobody cares who gets the credit.”
Might that be a philosophy the Elks might graze on?
Numerous internet searches failed to provide a credible figure of what the Elks are worth. We do know the B.C. Lions sale was $35 million.
Nonetheless, I’m curious to see if a group of Edmonton business people who, like the EIG, come together, not for their own fortunes, but for the good of a football team once regarded as the CFL’s flagship, and to continue its legacy.
In 1964, the football club’s board of directors was replaced by a group that took over the team’s payroll and other expenses.
Their name: The Nervous Nine.
So how ‘bout The Five to Keep Elks Alive?
The Six Fix?
Eight to Make Elks Great?
10 Friends?
This is Edmonton, after all, a community of people who care for each other.
It will be most interesting to see how this plays out.
I think we’ll see a groups of Edmontnians come together and give the Elks exactly what they need.
Stability.
And you can’t buy that anywhere. Not even on eBay.
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