Why The Green Bay Packers Haven't Played In London

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Hey Friends,

The National Football League (NFL) launched the International Series in 2007.

It was the league’s most significant international investment to date, and more than thirty games have been played in international cities since, not including the record five international games that will be played this year in London, Mexico City, and even Munich.

But there is one interesting fact that many people don’t know: the Green Bay Packers are the only team in the entire NFL not to play an international game.

The reason for this is pretty simple. Moving a game internationally means sacrificing a home game, which many teams don’t want to do because of the loss in local revenue (this is money NFL teams don’t have to share). But the Packers have also been able to successfully argue that there is a disproportionate economic impact giving up a home game would have on their market, saying that losing a game would amount to an estimated $15 million local economic hit.

This has worked for over a decade, even while teams like the Jacksonville Jaguars, Miami Dolphins, and Las Vegas Raiders played five to eight international games each. But with the NFL expanding to a 17-game season, Green Bay now won’t lose any additional home games if one were played overseas.

Most International Series Games Played (Since 2007)

1. Jacksonville Jaguars: 8 games

2. Miami Dolphins: 5 games

3. Oakland/Las Vegas Raiders: 5 games

4. St. Louis/Los Angeles Rams: 4 games

5. Patriots/Vikings/Saints/Chargers/Buccaneers: 3 games

So the Packers are headed to London this weekend for the first time. They will play the New York Giants at Tottenham Hotspur Stadium, but rather than talk more about the International Series (I’m working on a long-form YouTube video about this), I figured today was the perfect day to explore the Packers’ unique ownership structure.

Ps. this weekend’s game will be the first London game (out of 32) that features teams with winning records — the Giants & Packers are both 3-1.

The Green Bay Packers pride themselves on being the only publicly-owned, not-for-profit, major league professional team in the United States.

Rather than having a single wealthy owner, or multiple partners, the Packers are owned by fans — 537,460 shareholders owning a total of 5,200,00 shares, to be exact.

The story goes like this: In 1923, the Packers found themselves in financial trouble, so they sold shares to local residents to keep the lights on. And since then, the team has held five additional stock offerings in 1935, 1950, 1997, 2011, and 2021.

The Packers sell shares in both the US and Canada, and all proceeds are used to support the financial activities of the franchise. For example, their last two stock offerings, in 2011 and 2021, raised more than $100 million and were used to fund stadium expansion and upgrades, including high-definition video boards, sound systems, concourse upgrades, and more.

But what do shareholders get? Well, essentially, nothing. Packers shareholders can “vote on Green Bay’s board of directors and a seven-member executive committee that represents the team at league meetings.” However, shareholders “have no real say in team decisions, football or otherwise.”

So fans looking to make a profit will have to look elsewhere.

Because the Packers stock pays no dividend and isn’t tradeable or able to be sold. During the 2021 sale, for example, a single share went for $300, which bought shareholders a souvenir certificate to hang up on the wall, a chance to purchase shareholders-only merchandise, and an invite to Lambeau Field to attend the annual shareholders meeting during training camp.

The point is, buying shares in the Green Bay Packers is more similar to a fan club initiation fee than it is to an investable asset. However, this original 1923 Green Bay Packers stock certificate purchased for $5 in 1923 sold for more than $10,000 last year.

The NFL has since established a rule called the “Green Bay Rule,” which was implemented before the 1960 NFL season and states that “charitable organizations and/or corporations not organized for profit and not now a member of the league may not hold membership in the National Football League.” Or, in simple terms, the Packers were grandfathered in as the NFL’s sole publicly owned franchise.

Still, this ownership structure provides fans with one unique benefit: the Green Bay Packers are the only NFL team that releases an annual financial report.

For example, the Packers 2021-22 annual financial report shows the team brought in a franchise record $579 million in revenue last year, including $347 million in national revenue (mainly TV deals that teams split evenly) and $232 million in local revenue.

And with $501 million in expenses during the same period, including $281 million in player costs and $68 million on sales and marketing, the team recorded an operating from of $77 million — another franchise record.

Green Bay Packers 2021 Financial Overview

• Revenue: $579 million (franchise record)

  • National: $347 million

  • Local: $232 million

• Expenses: $501 million

  • Player costs: $281 million

  • Team: $55 million

  • Sales, marketing, and fan engagement: $68 million

  • Facilities: $27 million

  • General & administrative: $70 million

• Operating profit: $77 million (franchise record)

• Net income: $61.6 million

And considering National Revenue is divided evenly amongst all 32 NFL teams, that means the NFL distributed more than $11 billion in 2021 — another record.

And last but not least, the Green Bay Packers also run a successful investment fund.

They fund the investments with operating profits, and the total size of the portfolio has nearly doubled since 2015, reaching a franchise record $533 million this year.

I hope you enjoyed today’s breakdown and learned a little about the NFL’s only publicly owned franchise. I’ll talk to everyone tomorrow.

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