The Edmonton Football Team is working on a new name that pleases long-time fans while also enticing new ones to check out the product.
TSN’s Farhan Lalji explains part of the dilemma facing the franchise as it undergoes the process of rebranding.
“There’s a real push-pull there in terms of do you go historical or do you go young and energetic,” Lalji said on The Rod Pedersen Show.
“I don’t mind the thought of them going young and energetic, trying to tie it into what a fan base that’s under 40 appreciates. Hopefully they can make sure that fan base goes to games because that’s what every franchise in the league needs right now.”
The Green and Gold franchise asked for name submissions from fans as the organization works through the process of selecting a new moniker and over 13,000 votes were received. The EE Football Team would not share the exact amount of votes cast for each option with 3DownNation, but did provide the top 10 list.
“I’m not fond of the Elk. For me, if you’re going to have an animal, I prefer something a little more aggressive. I think it fits in terms of the literacy of it, the Edmonton Esks versus Edmonton Elks. There’s a lot of similarities,” Lalji said.
“I’m not big on the Elks. I know the Eagles is another animal name. I don’t mind the thought that they could get creative and go to Extreme, there’s Extreme weather in Edmonton.”
The board of directors made the decision to discontinue the use of the word “Eskimo” in the team’s name in July. It’s going to cost the franchise over $1 million dollars for the new name. Edmonton is working on a new name to be unveiled in the early spring of 2021.
