

Shares do not pay dividends, cannot increase in value and does not include any equity. Shareholders in the Green Bay Packers are unlike traditional shareholders of a company. What benefits do you get if you’re an owner of the Packers? The most recent stock sale happened in 20, when 269,000 shares were sold at $250 apiece to raise funds towards a $143 million addition in the south end zone of Lambeau Field. Since the AFL/NFL merger in 1970, the team has held a stock sale shortly after its two Super Bowl victories. Once again Green Bay has proven to the nation what civic pride means.

The game and stock sale brought in around $100,000 and club president Emil Fischer praised fans at a victory party, saying, “We’ve done it again. The team was facing $90,000 in losses in late 1949, and scheduled a Thanksgiving Day intrasquad game to raise enough funds to finish the season. This sale sold shares at $25 apiece (about $450 in today’s money) and was pitched as more of a fund drive. If you purchased five shares of stock, you received a box seat for every home game.Ī second sale in 1935 helped keep the team afloat after a local fan sued the Packers for $5,000 after falling out of the stands at City Stadium. The team brought in about $5,585 by selling 1,000 shares at $5 apiece (about $70 in today’s money). The first was in 1923 facing bankruptcy the Packers turned to local merchants to help raise money. The Packers have turned to stock sales five times to raise money. It’s not outrageous to say that without community support, the Packers would have folded. 00002%, and no one individual can own more than 4% of the outstanding shares. Each individual share equals approximately. As of 2014, there are 360,760 stockholders who own a share in the team. The Packers ownership group is a little larger than 24. If you look at a map of the United States, most won’t even show Green Bay as it’s the third-largest city in the state behind Milwaukee and Madison. Green Bay, Wisconsin has a population of 104,057 as of the 2010 census, easily making it the smallest home city of an NFL team.
PACKERS SHAREHOLDERS PROFESSIONAL
And then there’s the Green Bay Packers, the only community-owned franchise in American professional sports. Sure, there are jobs that may offer a higher salary or more exposure, but owning a team is the top of the heap.įor 31 other NFL franchises, the owners must be a group of 24 or fewer people and cannot be a religious group, government or non-profit organization. Other than President of the United States, there’s probably no more prestigious position in our country than an owner of a professional sports team.
