EDMONTON - A 6-1 record at Commonwealth Stadium has helped propel the Edmonton Elks to their first playoff berth since 2019, as the team looks to reclaim home dominance ahead of Saturday’s game against the Hamilton Tiger-Cats. The Elks, coming off a loss in Toronto last weekend, are seeking a win that would help them secure a home playoff date.

Edmonton has won 14 Grey Cup championships. In those championship seasons, the team, then called the Eskimos, lost more than two home games only once: in 1978, when it went 6-3-1 at home in the first of two consecutive championship seasons. The team went unbeaten at home in three of those years and lost just once in six others. Across all 14 Grey Cup seasons, its home record was 100-18-1.

Quarterback Cody Fajardo said the team has worked to make Commonwealth a difficult venue for visiting teams. “We love playing here and we’ve tried to establish this being a tough place to play,” he said. “With our fans showing up and having 30,000 plus, that makes it a much better atmosphere for us, helps our defence out, gives us energy as an offence.”

Fajardo said rising ticket sales can affect opposing teams’ expectations and decisions. “When you see ticket sales … trending in the right direction it makes you think about snap count, it makes you think about different plays that you’ve got to call because you know it’s going to be tough.” He said an open upper deck and ticket sales trending upward play a role in “the mind games and the strategy against opposing teams,” adding, “We’ve got to use that to our advantage.”

Edmonton will need that support against Hamilton, Fajardo said, because the Tiger-Cats remain in the playoff picture. “It’s a Hamilton team that’s going to scratch, claw, fight because they’re still in (the playoff picture). Their defence has kept them in a lot of games. Offensively, we’re going to have our hands full.”

Head coach Mark Kilam has been promoting Commonwealth as the “Concrete Castle of the North.” “We want to make this a hard place to play and I think we take pride in that,” Kilam said.

The current home success contrasts with much of the Elks’ record at Commonwealth this decade. After the team name changed to the Elks in 2021, the stadium became a difficult setting for the home side: Edmonton set a record with 22 consecutive home losses over four years. That streak ended Aug. 27, 2023, and the renamed team had not recorded a winning season at Commonwealth until this year.

Fajardo knows the venue from the visiting side. He played for the Saskatchewan Roughriders from 2019 to 2022, then the Montreal Alouettes in 2023 and 2024, and recalled coming to Edmonton as an opponent. “You know, there’s a couple of times you would just circle it on your calendar and be like, yep, that’s a win,” he said.

He said the organization has sought to change that reputation. “We did everything we could to change that culture, change that mindset so that when you now see the Elks on your schedule, you know it’s going to be a physical game, it’s going to a four-quarter game. We’ve worked tremendously hard from the top of the organization down to the players to make this place extremely hard (for visiting teams).” The Canadian Press report was first published Sept. 25, 2026.

Based on reporting by Global News Edmonton.