The Packers will "add 6,600 seats to Lambeau Field, and the team will cover related costs and may offer a stock sale to help pay for renovations" estimated at a total cost of $143M, according to Richard Ryman of the GREEN BAY PRESS-GAZETTE. The team will add "two entrances to the stadium, near the north and south scoreboards, in addition to already announced replacements of the sound system and the scoreboards" and will build a "viewing terrace for club-seat ticket holders on the north end zone roof." The additional seats will "increase capacity to 79,000, making Lambeau the fourth-largest stadium" in the NFL. The new seats "will be offered to existing season-ticket holders first, in order of seniority up to the number of tickets they have now." If they elect to move, season-ticket holders "will have to give up their existing seats." Club-seat ticket holders "will have access" to the north end zone rooftop terrace, which will be "available on non-game days for meetings and receptions." The Packers must get league, state and federal approval to offer a stock sale, which "would be the fifth" in team history. Packers General Counsel & VP/Administration Jason Wied said that a "per-share price has not been determined." The team has "scheduled a a groundbreaking for the project on Sept. 1." Work will "begin immediately, but the bulk will happen during the 2012 and 2013 offseasons" with the new seating "scheduled to be available for the 2013 season" (GREEN BAY PRESS-GAZETTE, 8/26).
SURVEY SAYS: In Milwaukee, Mark Kass noted the new seats in the south end zone "will be added in four levels." General seating "will be featured, in addition to themed areas with some indoor concession environments." The new south gate "will include four elevators and escalators." The new north end zone gate will include six elevators that will "enable club-seat and suite holders to enter and exit the stadium" (BIZJOURNALS.com, 8/25). The PRESS-GAZETTE's Ryman in a separate piece notes seats "for the south end zone won't be bleachers and will have backs on them." Wied said that a survey showed fans "preferred this style and it worked better than bench seating with the steepness of the new decks." Packers officials said that the south end zone seating is "designed to maintain the sight levels and intimacy of the stadium." Team reps said that they "want to avoid having fans farther from the playing field than they are now." Ryman notes the design "allows for a lot of standing room in and around the new sections," but the Packers "have not decided if, or when, they will sell standing room-only tickets." All of the seats "will be outdoors, but concessions and other amenities will be in an enclosed concourse" (GREEN BAY PRESS-GAZETTE, 8/26).
FAMILIAR PLAYBOOK: Packers President & CEO Mark Murphy and Wied said that the team "would not ask for public tax money" to pay for the renovations. In Milwaukee, Don Walker notes that is "a departure from 2003, when Brown County residents agreed to pay a 0.5% sales tax as part of the financing for the $295.2 million Lambeau makeover." The franchise, however, "may borrow somewhat from the financing playbook it employed in 2003." The Packers plan to ask the NFL "for permission to tap into a new stadium fund, the team may impose a one-time user fee on season-ticket holders, and the franchise may consider the stock sale." In '03, the team "implemented the user fee," which made ticket prices "either $1,400 per seat or $600 per seat, depending on the ticket package." Murphy said that "no price has been set for a new user fee." He also indicated that the team "will borrow money from local banks" to help pay for the renovation. Wied said, "This is the second-biggest project we've ever done at Lambeau Field in terms of size, scope and investment" (MILWAUKEE JOURNAL SENTINEL, 8/26).
