The Green Bay Packers are offering shares of the team to the public to help add 7,000 seats, update the sound system, and replace the old scoreboard all for around 22 million dollars. When experts were asked if the sale would go well the answer was easy; after winning the Super Bowl last year and with a 9-0 record the Packers are worth about 1.089 billion. The shares are being offered at $250 each, and the team last offered public shares of the team in 1997.
This is unique because the Green Bay Packers are the only publicly owned team in the NFL, and are set in a metropolitan area of just over 300,000. The part where the team is publicly owned comes in big there because many large ownership groups would not keep an NFL team in such a small media market. The Packers also lack the amount of affluent fans that teams in huge cities like New York, and Dallas have. This shows how humbling it is that the people of Green Bay will jump at the chance to buy these shares and support their history and the team
It really is interesting to see a team with that type of ownership framework succeed and flourish as much as they have. There is no doubt in my mind that all of those shares will sell, and sell quickly. I haven't been to Green Bay, Wisconsin, but I can only assume the atmosphere is similar to a large scale college football program; many animatedly supportive fans, a great sense of tradition, and a strong desire for success. It truly is a unique set of circumstances they operate under.
ReplyDeleteI think this is such an excellent structure. The fans want more seats, want a better scoreboard and want a better sound system. So why shouldn't they get the chance to own part of the team AND see changes for the better? Let the fans, the people who keep the team alive and relevant, be a part of the organization. Fantastic.
ReplyDeleteI can't read enough about the Packers ownership structure. There recently was a story in Forbes about it, too. It's so rare these days to find something that is unique. This ownership structure of a professional sports team certainly qualifies as unique.
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