Vision for continued Elks revival to ‘carry forward’ in wake of CFL team owner’s death

Despite owning the Edmonton Elks for less than a year, the team says his vision for reviving the franchise is taking form. Brenden Purdy has the latest.

Owner Larry Thompson’s vision of reviving the fortunes of Edmonton’s floundering football franchise “will carry forward” following his death, the team’s administrative head said on Friday.

Thompson, 65, bought the franchise in August last year, becoming the first private owner in the history of the franchise that first took the field in 1949.

Chris Morris, the president and chief executive officer of the Canadian Football League club, told media at Commonwealth Stadium on Friday that Thompson cared not just for the team “but for the community as a whole.”

“Larry’s dream was to have this place become a special part of Edmonton again and to revive this franchise to be everything it ever has been in the past to everybody in this community.”

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Morris said Thompson suffered severe complications from surgery a month ago that led to his death, which the team confirmed on Thursday.

Ownership of the franchise will remain with Deb Thompson, Larry’s wife.

“Our family is devastated with the loss of our anchor,” Deb Thompson said in a statement on Thursday. “Larry was a legend, and our family will continue his legacy far beyond our lifetimes.

“Owning EE was a lifelong dream. My only regret is he isn’t here to enjoy it. I will continue to support the club and community as it has become my dream as well as that of our family.”

The Elks (5-9) sit last in the West Division as they host the division’s top team, the Saskatchewan Roughriders (10-3), on Saturday night. The team will pay tribute to Thompson before kickoff.

When Thompson purchased the Elks, who haven’t made the playoffs since 2019, he was credited with saving the franchise. In 2022, the publicly owned team was facing bankruptcy, saying it had a $3.3-million deficit and was seeking private investment.

Morris, a former offensive lineman who returned to the franchise last October after 12 years leading the University of Alberta’s Golden Bears football program, said Thompson went out of his way to get to know the coaches, players and their families, and “was very stringent on what he thought a healthy organization should look like, on the way people treated each other and on the way we conduct business.”

“A part of that was knowing everybody here and making sure everyone was taken care of,” he said.

Morris said Deb Thompson “is very committed” to continuing to guide the Elks franchise.

“She loves this team and she loves this community just as much as Larry,” he said. “I think the fact that she wants Larry’s vision to get put into place is a positive thing, so I have no worries there. The family is fully committed to making this place into what it can be.”