Seats to an Edmonton throwback football experience are now on sale to all. The Edmonton Elks opened ticket sales to the general public on Monday for their May 29 home exhibition game against the Calgary Stampeders. The pre-season tuneup game, labelled by the team as the 'Night at the Knothole,' will be staged at Clarke Stadium, the site of their former home field before the Canadian Football League moved into their current digs, Commonwealth Stadium, in 1978. ‘Knothole’ refers to the moniker used by the team for its former Woodward’s Knothole Gang club that once provided youth swag and discounted tickets to games and is still in use for the club’s sponsored Brickley’s Knothole Corner for family seating. The old stadium, which seated 25,500 spectators, was torn down in the late 1990s and replaced with the current field and grandstand for the 2001 World Athletics Championships that also saw Commonwealth receive major upgrades. Commonwealth is unavailable to the Elks as the Canadian men’s national soccer team is hosting Uzbekistan for a World Cup exhibition match there three days after the Knothole game. The stadium is being fitted with natural grass for the soccer showdown and will be outfitted with new field turf in time for the Elks’ regular-season home opener on June 20 against the Montreal Alouettes. Ticket prices range from $40 each for general admission to $155 for a premium ticket that includes food. A pre-sale for Elks season-ticket holders started a week ago. Elks training camp begins in mid-May. The team plays its first preseason game May 23 on Vancouver Island against the B.C. Lions. Edmonton begins their 2026 CFL regular season in Ottawa against the Redblacks on June 6.
