The Green Bay Packers recently held their annual shareholders’ meeting, and it is yet another reminder of how much better the Packers are than every other NFL franchise. Packers shareholders, 8,000 of them, gathered on Lambeau’s bleachers and listened to team president Mark Murphy explain where their funds were applied, the reasons for the improvements, and sharing standing needs. An unassuming demonstration on its face, this is the only such presentation given in the entirety of the NFL because of the Packers’ unique ownership structure.
The New York Times reports:
At the meeting, Mark Murphy, the team’s president, told the shareholders to give themselves a round of applause for helping raise $65 million in a stock sale during the winter.
Murphy said the windfall will go toward the more than $200 million being spent on new infrastructure, including larger video boards, concourse renovations and a second generator to power it all. “It’s not very sexy, is it? But we need it,” he joked. The players and coaches will also get a new training facility with underground parking.
Because the Packers are publicly owned, the team must release annual financial figures that provide a window into all 32 teams, much to the consternation of every other owner who tries to keep prying eyes from learning the specifics of their wealth.
In other words, were it not for the Packers’ public ownership, the public would know almost nothing of the NFL’s finances and internal machinations. And because of the Packs’ ownerlessness — no billionaire to bail them out — they have to be particularly aware of their bottom line. This dynamic makes for a franchise that is Dutch Reformed in its financial management and Roman Catholic in its pursuit of aesthetics and splendor to make the stadium as much of a draw as it can possibly be for football fans of any stripe; the Packers accept payment in greenbacks or gold.
Another benefit of the Packers’ needing broad support is that it keeps them from hiring obnoxious players and making overtly political moves. Wisconsin, a politically divided state, has little interest in its shared institution falling to partisan nonsense, and the team finds it beneficial to its image to remain above the fray. Refreshing.
So if you’re ever up this way, stop at Lambeau and ask your fellow tourists if they are part owners. Likely as not, they will be.
Note: Bears fans and other FIB-aligned persons will guffaw and say that a Packers shareholder is a chump out $300 for a scrap of paper. However, the especially hawk-eyed will observe the naysayer’s chortling devolve into pitiable sobbing when recalling his franchise is entering another rebuilding phase. When framed, that scrap of paper is a fitting accompaniment to christening photos hung above the family’s mantel.