Uniqueness in Green Bay

“Green Bay is truly a special, special situation.” Most would think that this phrase said by Rick Chernick, would be regarding Green Bay’s recent win in the Super Bowl against the Pittsburgh Steelers, instead this statement isn’t about Green Bay’s success during a season plagued with key injuries. Rather, the uniqueness of the ownership of the Green Bay Packers is what Chernick is referring to. Unlike any other team in the United States, the Packers are publically owned by the fans. In the article “Those Non-Profit Packers” by Dave Zirin, he discusses the history of the Packers and how they became a publically owned team, along with outlining how the National Football League is making sure it doesn’t occur with any other teams.

Like many other teams in the early 1920s, the Packers were pushing towards bankruptcy. Unlike many of the teams that disbanded during this early era, the Packers decided to sell shares to their community, relying on fan donations to keep the operation running smoothly. These shares still exist today, although no shareholder is allowing to exceed two hundred thousand shares making no one able to gain control of the organization. One would think being a stockholder in a NFL team would provide some sort of benefits, but Zirin states that “Shareholders receive no dividend check and no free tickets to Lambeau Field. They don’t even get a foam cheesehead. All they get is a piece of paper that says they are part-owners of the Green Bay Packers. They don’t even get a green and gold frame for display purposes.” This further deepens the uniqueness of the situation the Packers have with their fan base. Not only is the fan base the ownership of the team, volunteers through the communities work concessions during games (with 60% of their commission going towards charity!) and help shovel the stadium after snow storms.

Although this situation is great for Green Bay, that’s the only place you’ll be seeing this sort of ownership. Former N.F.L. commissioner Pete Rozelle had Article V, Section 4 written into the league constitution in 1960 stating that, “charitable organization and/or corporations not organized for profit and not now a member of the league may not hold membership in the National Football League.” With this article in place, it’s impossible for any current or expansion team to be owned by their fan base.

Personally, I understand that the N.F.L. would rather have rich billionaire owns running their teams rather than multiple owners and board of directors. Things are a lot simpler with owners and would result in less confusion and more revenue. Overall, I think Green Bay is a very unique situation that’ll never be replicated by another United States professional sports team, and maybe it’s better that way or maybe it’s not.