The Edmonton Football Team (formerly known as the Eskimos) has completed their rebrand ahead of the 2021 season and will henceforth be known as the “Elks”. The longstanding CFL franchise made the announcement via a team livestream today to fans and media alike.
Edmonton dropped its former moniker last year amidst rising pressure to remove racial stereotypes from sports franchises across North America. The Washington Football Team followed a similar plan, though they have yet to reveal what their rebrand will be as of yet. Though the Edmonton franchise had been in the CFL since 1949, the “Eskimos” nickname had ties to various sports teams in the region since the late 1800’s.
Initially the club seemed as though they would keep the name after “consulting with Inuit leaders and community members across Canada”, however in the wake of Washington dropping the “Redskins” name, the CFL club elected to follow suit. In similar fashion to how corporate pressure from sponsors such as Nike, FedEx and others forced Washington’s hand, an announcement from BelAir Direct (an insurance company with ties to the Edmonton franchise) stating they were reviewing their partnership with the club seemed to be the catalyst for the name change.
The Elks rebrand allows the franchise to maintain the “EE” logo, and will also retain the green and gold colour scheme as well. Edmonton execs revealed earlier this year that they had narrowed their choices down to seven potential names for the rebrand: Evergreens, Evergolds, Eclipse, Elkhounds, Eagles, Elks and Elements.
With Washington and Edmonton now sporting new mascots, the next domino to fall is Major League Baseball’s Cleveland Indians, whose name and logo (Chief Wahoo, a red faced Native American caricature) has been the cause of public outcry from many indigenous organizations over the years. Cleveland has already announced that they will be changing their team name next season.
The name change for the 14 time Grey Cup champion club comes just in time for the CFL’s pushed back start date of August 5th. The CFL did not host a season in 2020 due to COVID restrictions and health concerns. Elks branded jerseys, ball caps, and other merchandise is currently available for sale on the Edmonton team shop website.