Edmonton Elks expecting massive Commonwealth crowd for Labour Day rematch against Calgary
The Edmonton Elks are creating a buzz in the Alberta capital.
It’s been an amazing season for the Elks, as they sit atop the CFL West Division standings with a sparkling 8-3 record. For the first time since 2019, it appears that Edmonton CFL fans will be able to enjoy some playoff football.
That has caused excitement around the team to skyrocket as fans start to pack into Commonwealth Stadium to watch the Elks. Attendance had been on a downward swing over the past couple of years, but a winning season has reversed that trend.
A total of 31,757 fans packed into Commonwealth to watch the Elks take on the Saskatchewan Roughriders back in early August, and the team has drawn crowds of over 22,000 during each of their last two home games.
The Elks aren’t finished there, however, as the team is expecting another massive crowd for the team’s upcoming Labour Day rematch game against the Calgary Stampeders on Sept. 12.
According to Elks team president and CEO, Chris Morris, tickets for that game are going fast.
“We’re doing pretty well. We’re at 22 [thousand tickets sold] now,” Morris told reporters on Saturday. “We’re ahead of where we were with the Saskatchewan game, with as much time to go.
“We need people to fill this place and give us that advantage over these guys.”
The Elks have seen a considerable season-over-season increase in attendance compared to last season. Through six home games this year, a total of 127,727 fans have attended games at Commonwealth Stadium, compared to 111,764 through the same number of home games last season.
Morris seems to have some lofty expectations for the crowd during that game, saying that he wants to outdraw the upcoming Grey Cup, which is set to be hosted at Calgary’s 35,400-seat McMahon Stadium.
Edmonton would need to sell around 35,500 tickets to make that happen.
“Getting to 35 [thousand tickets sold] would be awesome,” Morris said. “The biggest crowd this year in the CFL is supposed to be the Grey Cup at 35 [thousand]. So, if we had 36 [thousand] here, that means we have more than the actual Grey Cup game.
“I think that’d be really cool.”
A crowd of 36,000 would stand as the highest-attended CFL game this season. Currently, the Roughriders hold the high mark with a total of 33,350 packing into Mosaic Stadium for Saskatchewan’s Week 13 matchup against the Toronto Argonauts on Aug. 29.
Even during Edmonton’s dismal 2025 season, they still managed to attract a crowd of 28,365 for their Labour Day rematch against the Stampeders. With ticket sales approaching that number with five days until the game, it appears the Elks are on track to break that 30,000 mark for the second time this season.
At the very least, it looks like the team will need to once again open the upper bowl at Commonwealth Stadium to keep up with ticket demands.
Edmonton can’t get too ahead of themselves, however, as they need to focus on Monday’s Labour Day Classic matchup against the Stampeders in Calgary before they return home.
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