Packers' Stock Sale Raises $67M For Lambeau Field Expansion Project

Preliminary figures show the Packers sold “268,000 shares valued at $67 million” during their stock sale, “more than the team expected when it launched the sale on Dec. 6 to help pay for a $143 million Lambeau Field expansion now under way,” according to Richard Ryman of the GREEN BAY PRESS-GAZETTE. Totals for the Packers stock sale that ended Wednesday “outstripped those of the last sale, in 1997-98, when the team sold 120,000 shares.” Packers President & CEO Mark Murphy Thursday said, “The big difference was the ability to sell online. Over 90 percent of sales were online.” The Packers said that “half of the shares were bought by Wisconsin residents,” and Canadian fans, “who only had a couple days in which to buy, bought 2,000 shares.” Packers stock provides “no financial benefits to its owners” nor does it “pay dividends or appreciate in value, and the team can block any resale.” Stock can be “passed on to family members and does allow the holder to vote on team business, including directors.” Raising $67M for the expansion project means the Packers “will need to borrow less money than expected, which Murphy said gives the team flexibility on other development plans” (GREEN BAY PRESS-GAZETTE, 3/2).

MEETING SPACE: The GREEN BAY PRESS-GAZETTE’s Ryman noted faced with 250,000 new shareholders, the Packers “are rethinking plans for their annual meeting.” The team has “no idea how many shareholders -- they have 360,000 now -- will attend the July meeting at Lambeau Field.” In the immediate wake of the '97-98 sale, when they sold 120,000 shares, “18,707 people attended.” Murphy said that it is “likely the number of guests each shareholder is allowed to bring will be reduced” (GREENBAYPRESSGAZETTE.com, 3/1). In Milwaukee, Don Walker noted shareholders normally are “given four free guest passes for the annual meeting." While the Packers are still planning the event, Murphy said that the stadium's “new videoboards will debut that day” (JSONLINE.com, 3/1).