Call the Guinness Book of World Records, because the Edmonton Elks’ home ineptitude has reached historic levels.
Saturday’s 25-18 defeat at the hands of the Montreal Alouettes marked the team’s 15th consecutive loss at Commonwealth Stadium, setting a new pro football record for the longest home losing streak.
Edmonton looked to be on pace to avoid that inauspicious honour, taking a narrow 18-17 lead into halftime. However, the Elks were shut out after the break and committed two turnovers in the red zone — the first being a 100-yard pick-six by Alouettes’ linebacker Tyrice Beverette which would prove to be the margin of victory.
That broke a four-way tie for the all-time lead in consecutive home losses, passing the 1987-88 Ottawa Rough Riders, 1988-89 Dallas Cowboys, and 2008-10 St. Louis Rams.
Edmonton’s last victory at Commonwealth came on October 12, 2019 — 1,085 days ago –against the B.C. Lions. The intervening years have included an organizational name change, a global pandemic and four separate head coaches — Jason Maas, Scott Milanovich (who never coached a game), Jaime Elizondo, and now Chris Jones. None have been able to deliver a win for the hometown crowd.
The Elks will have two more opportunities to avoid going two full seasons without recording a home victory, with the next coming on Saturday, October 15 against the Toronto Argonauts.
