Edmonton Elks

Location

Edmonton, AB, Canada

Capacity

56,302

Opened

1978

Time zone

UTC -07:00 Mountain Standard Time (MST)

Commonwealth Stadium is an open-air, multi-purpose stadium located in the McCauley neighbourhood of Edmonton, Alberta, Canada. It has a seating capacity of 56,302, making it the largest open-air stadium in Canada. Primarily used for Canadian football, it also hosts athletics, soccer, rugby union and concerts. Construction commenced in 1975 and the venue opened ahead of the 1978 Commonwealth Games, hence its name. The stadium replaced the adjacent Clarke Stadium as the home of the Edmonton Eskimos of the Canadian Football League that same year. It received a major expansion ahead of the 1983 Summer Universiade, when it reached a capacity of 60,081. Commonwealth Stadium has hosted five Grey Cups, the CFL's championship game. Soccer tournaments include nine FIFA World Cup qualification matches with the Canadian men's national soccer team, two versions of the invitational Canada Cup, the 1996 CONCACAF Men's Pre-Olympic Tournament, the 2002 FIFA U-19 Women's World Championship and the 2007 FIFA U-20 World Cup, the 2014 FIFA U-20 Women's World Cup and the 2015 FIFA Women's World Cup. FC Edmonton played its Canadian Championship matches at Commonwealth Stadium from 2011 to 2013. Other events at the stadium include the 2001 World Championships in Athletics, the 2006 Women's Rugby World Cup and three editions of the Churchill Cup.