Green Bay Packers Announce Details of Stock Sale for Fans
NFL fans now have a chance to be owners of a team. The Green Bay Packers announce they are offering 300,00 shares of stock to sell for $300 per share. This is the sixth time in franchise history and the first since 2011 the Packers are offering shares of stock to the general public. The offering will start on Tuesday and end on Feb. 25, 2022.
"We appreciate the interest that fans have expressed in our sixth stock offering," Packers President/CEO Mark Murphy said in a statement. "While we are not yet in a position to fully discuss the offering, we do have some initial information that we can share for fans to consider. We look forward to formally launching the offering tomorrow. Fans can look to Packers.com tomorrow for full details."
Fans can purchase Packers stock inline and not one person can buy more than 200 shares. The Packers also noted stock in the team doesn't constitute an investment in "stock" in the common sense of the term. And anyone who purchases stock should not purchase to make a profit or receiver a dividend check or tax deduction. According to USA Today, the Packers have 361,000 shareholders who collectively own about over five million shares. The previous stock sales were 1923, 1935, 1950, 1997 and 2011.
According to ESPN, the last two stock sales were done to raise money for stadium expansion and projects. The first three were done to keep the team afloat financially in Green Bay since it's a small market. The Packers are the only team in the NFL that doesn't have a majority owner. The team is run by a president - currently Murphy - who is also head of a seven-member board committee. The is also a board of directors that has 42 members.
Fans know that Packers stock is not like an average stock but are willing to pay for a share. "That's the reason I would love to buy a share, is for my father," Justin Salazar of Rio Hondo, Texas told USA Today. "I've been a Green Bay Packers fan since I was a child because of my father's love for the Packers." Along with being the only publicly owned franchise in the NFL, the Packers are the only North American major league sports franchise to release its financial balance sheet every year.