Does Buying Stock In The Packers Really Make You an Owner?
Listen, I love my Green Bay Packers as much as any fan who wears the green and gold. But I draw the line at donating $300 of my hard-earned money, during a down-economic time, so that my home stadium can have up-to-date scoreboards.
NFL.com reports that as of 8 a.m. today, 300,000 shares of stock in the Green Bay Packers football team were made available for sale. The cost? $300 a share. This shouldn't come as too much of a shock to Packer fans, as there have been talks of doing this now for a few months. But why now? The last two times that the Packers put stock up for sale were in 1997 and in 2011. Both of those years were following the Packers winning the Super Bowl. Now, in 2021, we're going with a mid-season sale?
Yes, it is a nice story that the Packers remain the only pro sports franchise that is publicly owned. But what does having stock get you? Sure, you can attend the yearly shareholders' meeting in Green Bay, but other than a nice certificate you can from for your office or man cave, owning stock in the Packers has no real power with it. You aren't so much of an owner as you are a contributor. Now don't get me wrong, previous stock sales have generated MILLIONS of dollars used to make Lambeau Field and the surrounding area in Green Bay a destination for any true football fan.
So if you have a spare $300 you can head to PackersStock.com and fill out the paperwork and become an 'owner'. I think I'll just watch on Sunday and scream at my TV. So far, that is still free.