In anticipation of the annual Green Bay Packers stockholders’ meeting, the Packers released their financials for the world to see. The fact that the Packers are a publicly-owned company subject to disclosure rules gives us an insight into the league’s financials that the rest of the NFL would rather we not see, and it’s frankly fantastic that this exists. As always, every team should be organized like the Packers.
The Packers also provided additional information via a post by Packers.com editor Mike
Spofford, in which Team President Ed Policy laments that the Packers can’t tap into private equity money like everyone else. Some pundits, like Mike Florio, read this as an indictment of the Packers’ organizational structure, and wrote unhinged screeds about the Packers potentially dissolving as a result. This nonsense really spread quickly:
There’s nothing to worry about on this front. The Packers are extremely profitable and extremely solvent, and in any case, Mike Florio is wrong about Ed Policy having the power to dissolve the team. He does not. But there is something important in Spofford’s narrative, and a reason the Packers are leaning into the “poor” narrative.
Midway through the post, Spofford writes:
Other teams also have significant public money invested in their redeveloped or new stadiums, which allows them to spend more money on non-capped football operations.
From the Packers’ perspective, Lambeau Field – which will soon be the league’s oldest stadium – will need considerable investment for continued maintenance, as well as future improvements to remain a cutting-edge facility.
“It’s critical to have a long-term plan in conjunction with the city, county, state, and stadium district board to keep Lambeau Field both iconic and state-of-the-art,” said Policy.
Certainty is needed with the city and stadium district with respect to Lambeau’s lease, and a collaborative approach will be required with the county and state for additional future plans.
The emphasis is mine, because what is crystal clear is that the Packers will be going to the local and state governments at some point for money for upgrades to Lambeau Field. The Packer stock sales are great for raising what is essentially free money, but there are limits to how often you can tap that option. And while the Packers do have almost three-quarters of a billion dollars in their rainy-day fund, and objectively do not need public assistance for anything, this is how the NFL does business.
Lambeau is fine as is. It’s a great place to see a game; bathrooms are plentiful, and adding more video boards would make it worse, not better. None of that will stop the team from asking for public money in the not-too-distant future. Gotta keep up with the Jerry Joneses.
