BREAKING: Edmonton football team officially changes name from ‘Eskimos’ to ‘Elks’

"Elks" was not on the shortlist of team names that residents of Edmonton voted on, although "Elk" was. Other potential names included the Evergreens, Evergolds, Eclipse, Elkhounds, Eagles and Elements.

On July 3, Janice Agrios, chairwoman of the team's board of directors, said “We began our research and engagement program three years ago because we believed that it was of utmost importance to have input from the Inuit regarding our name.”

“The research revealed that 78 percent of the western Arctic Inuit oppose the team changing [it]. In Nunavut, where we are still working on building our relationships, 55 percent of Inuit oppose a change. … In the eastern Arctic, where the results identified little connection to the team, 31 percent of Inuit oppose a name change.”

However, on July 7, Belairdirect, one of the team's major sponsors said that they would drop the team if they kept the name.