Green Bay Packers: All about dollars and sense
Sometimes when it comes to the NFL, the Green Bay Packers and the world of money, things don’t always follow a path of logic.
Take a team like the Dallas Cowboys; they are listed by FORBES magazine in its annual report on the state of the NFL teams and their worth, as the most valued (in terms of dollars) in the NFL.
The $3.2 billion that Dallas is worth is more than twice that of the Green Bay Packers, whose worth is estimated at $1.38 billion.
And you thought NFL football was a game?
And you thought NFL football was a game?
Jerry Jones does not think so, and he spent decades tossing out the most cash for players, but that didn’t mean things would continue on their winning ways for the Cowboys.
Recent times have the Cowboys closer to a .500 team than champions. And yet the team is richer than rich. You would think the winning seasons, hot selling Packers memorabilia, along with continued renewal of Lambeau Field would make for a gold mine for the Packers, putting the team near the top financially.
Well, it has kept the Packers afloat in the highly competitive world of the NFL.
The Green Bay Packers are near the top 10 of the list, at number 13 (of 32 teams) in FORBES’ 2014 list.
Not too shabby.
For a team in the middle of small town America and referred to as “the frozen tundra” with winters that are so stormy and cold, Green Bay hardly made it to Wikipedia.org’s list of the top 300 cities in population, at number 272 in the United States – 104,779 people in 2013.
Eddie Lacy and others like him have helped the Green Bay Packers’ success on the field. Jim Oxley photograph
The city has a lot to be proud of in the Green Bay Packers as their main attraction and bread winner. Even the Packers sister city of supporters in Milwaukee took a dive in population from 12th in the early 1960s to the 2013 ranking of 31st with 599,164, which was a loss of 25,000 since 1970.
Dallas, on the other hand, is the ninth largest city at 1,257,676 in the city proper. All of the cities with their metropolitan areas included often have as many as 3, 4, or 5 and 7 times more people than the city itself, when stretched over several counties. To compare the Dallas team to Green Bay’s in today’s NFL, seems that Green Bay has turned things up and around.
Dallas has been one of the biggest game winners over the Packers, trailing through the 60s into the 90s, with the new millennium being the only time (including the Favre era) Green Bay has gotten the best of the Cowboys, unless you go back to their NFL inception, and the few years afterward.
Still though, being 13th of 32 NFL teams, in the smallest market of the NFL, is a great feat for the Packers’ money management team. The ideas behind this success kept them in the league, as the TV revenue created cash rewards for all teams.
The Packers had two decades of success on the field, while Jerry Jones and Co. began to sputter somewhat in the wins and losses department over the same timeframe. While so much praise went to the Favres, Whites, Holmgrens, McCarthys, Drivers, and the long list of players on the field and in the public’s eye, not a word has been said to or about the folks behind the scenes advising and implementing the financial and creative income options the team chose to explore.
It seems almost demanding to have a day of thanks to these innovative corporate whizzes, for not only handling the income wisely, but to the shrewd fact finding missions made before taking off on building the new and financially upward trend that came with it. The new and old names and faces deserve credit for not only keeping this treasured team running, but flourishing. M. Murphy, L.L. Weyers, D. Ariens and other longtime members of the executive committee, such as J. Bergstrom, M.J. McMullen, T. Olson, and T. Olejniczak.
The 45 members of the Board of Directors kept things in line, while the nine front office financial accountants kept that money in order. Staff administrative officers such as the president, VP, VP of Business Development, HR department management, General Counsel, as well as sales, marketing, assistants, graphic designers, Public Affairs and Relations, Information Technology, community involvement people, and the Pro Shop.
How about the stadium, tickets, field care, and football operations, to make up the most important people that set the ball in motion. And you thought the coaches were the thankless wonders. Behind them all are dozens more of the people we never think of, like security personnel, or the guys that care for the field and buildings. It takes several to keep track of game video, and another dozen or so of absolutely the best sports medicine people on earth.
That’s no overstatement.
The Green Bay Packers continue to put the best talent on the field.
As Packers fans, even the cheese head name and decor has had an effect on the economic climate of the team. All the little things today’s management, the board of directors and financial officers have done pointed the team in the right direction: upward.
The one great help the team will get is to continue winning, as well as playing exciting football. The team’s image is what people like. Neighboring states have areas within Bears, Vikings and Lions territory with huge Packers fan bases.
These people contribute to the cause, with memorabilia and such, all with a cut of the Packers logo and colors going back to the team.
Image is everything, and Green Bay has nearly a century of hard-nosed, clean cut athletes taking the field. Keep it up Packers, and Packer fans.
It’s almost like the David and Goliath Biblical story of the small boy (David) defeating the muscular seven-foot tall giant, with a direct hit to the forehead when forced to fight.
The fight is on the field, and this year’s Packers show enough promise to get very-very high predictions of winning, playoffs, and trophies.
These things will follow today’s Packers for years to come, with Mike McCarthy and Ted Thopson hashing things out to get the very best football players to commit to making the Packers winners on the field week in and week out.
That commitment is driving this team to new horizons. Yes, we can start talking Super Bowl.
From head to toe, this organization has one goal. That goal will become a reality, time and time again with today’s Green Bay Packers. It’s not just happy wishes, and wants, it’s a fact.
As fans, it’s time to say thanks to all those who made this team what it has become – one of the giants of the NFL.