The Green Bay Packers are one of the few sports teams that have to “open their books” to the public due to the unique structure of the team’s ownership. Because the team is “publicly” owned, they have to announce what is happening financially with their club, down to reporting how much they made off of the league’s shared revenue streams — even if the NFL probably doesn’t like losing that piece of leverage against the NFL Players Association.
According to Packers.com, the Packers had an operating
loss of $1.1 million in 2025, in part due to a flurry of new contracts.
Here’s how Green Bay explained its high operational costs:
The Packers endured an uncommon year financially due to a combination of player acquisitions and departures. The structures of some new contracts, along with the required accounting of accelerated costs on released and traded players’ deals, all hit the ledger in the same year, which accounted for the $131.7 million increase in player costs.
National revenue increased $20.6 million, or 4.8%, to a record $453.2 million, continuing the long-term growth and partnership the Packers have with the league.
The 2025 home schedule included only eight regular-season games, down from nine in 2024. Local revenue, which encompasses ticketing, sponsorships, retail sales and events, still showed a productive $13.4 million increase despite one fewer home game.
While the price of franchises has gone up nearly 10-fold in a decade, the league’s shared revenue went up “just” 4.8 percent last year, which is interesting. It puts into perspective how much money clubs are being infused with when ownerships around the league sell a piece of their pie, a growing trend now that private equity is allowed to buy up to 10 percent of teams, a rule that passed by owners by a 31-1 vote in 2024.
It’s a good sign that local revenue has gone up with the Packers, even though they cannot count on playing nine home games every year moving forward. Even when the league eventually expands to an 18-game season, leadership in the NFL — including both commissioner Roger Goodell and NFL owners — has stated that the expectation is that each team will play one international game every year, meaning that the oscillation between 8 and 9 home games per year is likely to continue through the next Collective Bargaining Agreement.
The Packers don’t seem too worried about their current situation, though, based on comments made by President and CEO Ed Policy:
The bottom line: The operating numbers aren’t typical of those the Packers normally see, but they aren’t setting off any alarm bells within 1265 Lombardi Ave.
“The NFL is more competitive and more expensive than ever,” Chairman of the Board, President and CEO Ed Policy said. “We want to ensure our football leadership has every tool in the toolbox to build a competitive roster, and we do.”
…
“The franchise remains in great shape,” Policy said. “In the short and medium term, there are no major financial concerns, and we will continue to do what it takes to compete as the NFL landscape changes and evolves, which includes being intentional on generating more local revenue.
“We are however, keeping a very close eye on current trends and how they may impact our long-term financial health.”
Those trends relate to the challenges the Packers may face in keeping up financially with the rest of the league’s clubs, which have access to capital via private equity and limited partners purchasing small, non-controlling stakes in teams.
“It’s like other teams have an ATM that we don’t have,” Policy said, referring to private equity.
Green Bay’s statement also mentioned the Lambeau Field situation, with the lease coming up in 2032:
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.
Expect to hear a lot about the Lambeau Field lease, especially if you live in the Green Bay area, as we inch closer to the 2032 deadline. Currently, the City of Green Bay actually owns Lambeau Field, not the Packers.
