The Ownership Structure of the Green Bay Packers

John Nofsinger

Introduction A holder of a PhD in finance from Washington State University,

John Nofsinger is a finance professor at the University of Alaska Anchorage. Also the William H. Seward Endowed Chair in Finance at that institution, John Nofsinger enjoys sporting hobbies outside of his professional work. He is especially interested in cycling, running events, and Green Bay Packers football.

The Packers, a football team that competes in the National Football League (NFL), has a different ownership structure than any other NFL team. In fact, the ownership arrangement the Packers employ is no longer allowed by the NFL rules. Their distinction is that the Packers are a publicly held nonprofit, and are owned by the community rather than a single owner, partnership, or corporation.

Green Bay Packers In 2014, 360,584 individuals owned at least one

share in the Packers team, whose share ownership is capped at 200,000 shares maximum per person. This community support structure ensures that the Packers team cannot move to another city, even though Green Bay is the smallest market in the NFL. Shareholders receive benefits such as voting rights, annual meeting invitations, and access to exclusive merchandise. Of the five stock sales in Packers’ history, the most recent was in 2011. The purpose of that sale was to fund improvements to Lambeau Field, where the team plays home games.