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Tony Walter column: Fans can't wait to buy into the Green Bay Packers' identity
Anyplace else, this would probably be a scam. You pay a few hundred dollars for a piece of paper that has no real value, no resale options and gives you no authority or influence. It's like buying a bridge, swampland or costume jewelry with the assumption you're getting something useful or profitable.
But you can't blame the Green Bay Packers for considering another stock sale in what would be the unique blend of a prime seller's market at an economically-stressed time. If the league says OK and the Packers decide to bring more stockholders into the fold, anyone who bites at the offer will do so with eyes and wallets wide open.
That's why so many recreation rooms and offices have on display a framed stock certificate that pronounces the holder is a co-owner of a professional football team. It's not the same as being the New England Patriots' Robert Kraft or the Dallas Cowboys' Jerry Jones but it meets the needs of anyone who relishes having a greater piece of the Packers than the fan who just owns an Aaron Rodgers jersey.
But why would anyone who is watching pennies today be inclined to give up so many of them for something that is more symbolic than sensible?
The answer? Identity.
You can't turn on a Packers game without hearing announcers repeat the essence of the Packers story — publicly-owned, smallest city in the league, etc. — and be surprised when more fans want in on the story. If the history of the Packers is so unique — and should we say charming? — it's obvious why more people would want to board that wagon. The more fans that join, the more the public persona of the Green Bay Packers is reinforced.
What would make the next stock sale different — if it happens — is that it wouldn't be as critical to the Packers' purse strings as previous sales were. Not that a few million dollars more won't find a place in the Packers world of stadium expansion, higher player salaries or a possible business development within shouting distance of Lambeau Field, but the stakes are different now.
The first sale was needed to put a team on the field. The second was needed to get the team out of debt. The third was needed to keep the team in Green Bay. The fourth was needed to help finance the stadium renovation.
It will be interesting to see what sort of response the Packers get if they offer more stock for sale. Team officials say it's still uncertain if there will be more shares for the public and, if so, how much they'll cost.
But the fact that these shares won't ever help buy groceries or pay college tuitions is irrelevant. This just isn't like anyplace else.
Tony Walter is Opinion Page editor and columnist for the Press-gazette. He can be reached at twalter@greenbaypress gazette.com.
Taking stock
1923 — The newly formed nonprofit Green Bay Football Corp. offered $5 shares — adjusted to inflation would be $63 in 2011 money — to raise $5,000. It was to make sure it had players to oppose the Minneapolis Marines, Racine Legion, Duluth Kelleys and Chicago Bears. The center of that marketplace was the Green Bay Press-Gazette, which kept its doors open from 7-9:30 p.m. to help hawk stock certificates. Buyers got the bonus of a box seat for every home game that season. The newspaper even ran a mail-in coupon on its sports pages during that stock sale campaign since the corporation's secretary was sports editor George W. Calhoun and the Packers president was newspaper publisher Andrew Turnbull.
1935 — The circumstances of the stock sale came at a time when the Packers were on the financial ropes, having been in receivership for two years. But on Jan. 29, 1935, the Green Bay Packers Inc. was formed and 600 shares at $25 apiece were offered to raise $10,000 and pay off debts.
1950 — The team was in financial turmoil and faced a $90,000 deficit in 1949 until a Thanksgiving Day game between current Packers and former Packers raised $50,000 and kept the wolves away from the door and the team in Green Bay. But it took another stock drive the following year — offering 9,500 more shares again at $25 a share — to raise $118,000 and provide a more solid financial base if not a better football team.
1997 — With another Super Bowl title in its pocket, the franchise — by this time with 1,940 shareholders — offered 400,000 more shares to the public at $200 per share. When the feeding frenzy was over, there were 106,000 more shareholders on the books and $24 million more in the team's bank account. That helped when the Lambeau Field renovation loomed.
Tony Walter column: Fans can't wait to buy into the Green Bay Packers' identity
Anyplace else, this would probably be a scam. You pay a few hundred dollars for a piece of paper that has no real value, no resale options and gives you no authority or influence. It's like buying a bridge, swampland or costume jewelry with the assumption you're getting something useful or profitable.
But you can't blame the Green Bay Packers for considering another stock sale in what would be the unique blend of a prime seller's market at an economically-stressed time. If the league says OK and the Packers decide to bring more stockholders into the fold, anyone who bites at the offer will do so with eyes and wallets wide open.
That's why so many recreation rooms and offices have on display a framed stock certificate that pronounces the holder is a co-owner of a professional football team. It's not the same as being the New England Patriots' Robert Kraft or the Dallas Cowboys' Jerry Jones but it meets the needs of anyone who relishes having a greater piece of the Packers than the fan who just owns an Aaron Rodgers jersey.
But why would anyone who is watching pennies today be inclined to give up so many of them for something that is more symbolic than sensible?
The answer? Identity.
You can't turn on a Packers game without hearing announcers repeat the essence of the Packers story — publicly-owned, smallest city in the league, etc. — and be surprised when more fans want in on the story. If the history of the Packers is so unique — and should we say charming? — it's obvious why more people would want to board that wagon. The more fans that join, the more the public persona of the Green Bay Packers is reinforced.
What would make the next stock sale different — if it happens — is that it wouldn't be as critical to the Packers' purse strings as previous sales were. Not that a few million dollars more won't find a place in the Packers world of stadium expansion, higher player salaries or a possible business development within shouting distance of Lambeau Field, but the stakes are different now.
The first sale was needed to put a team on the field. The second was needed to get the team out of debt. The third was needed to keep the team in Green Bay. The fourth was needed to help finance the stadium renovation.
It will be interesting to see what sort of response the Packers get if they offer more stock for sale. Team officials say it's still uncertain if there will be more shares for the public and, if so, how much they'll cost.
But the fact that these shares won't ever help buy groceries or pay college tuitions is irrelevant. This just isn't like anyplace else.
Tony Walter is Opinion Page editor and columnist for the Press-gazette. He can be reached at twalter@greenbaypress gazette.com.
Taking stock
1923 — The newly formed nonprofit Green Bay Football Corp. offered $5 shares — adjusted to inflation would be $63 in 2011 money — to raise $5,000. It was to make sure it had players to oppose the Minneapolis Marines, Racine Legion, Duluth Kelleys and Chicago Bears. The center of that marketplace was the Green Bay Press-Gazette, which kept its doors open from 7-9:30 p.m. to help hawk stock certificates. Buyers got the bonus of a box seat for every home game that season. The newspaper even ran a mail-in coupon on its sports pages during that stock sale campaign since the corporation's secretary was sports editor George W. Calhoun and the Packers president was newspaper publisher Andrew Turnbull.
1935 — The circumstances of the stock sale came at a time when the Packers were on the financial ropes, having been in receivership for two years. But on Jan. 29, 1935, the Green Bay Packers Inc. was formed and 600 shares at $25 apiece were offered to raise $10,000 and pay off debts.
1950 — The team was in financial turmoil and faced a $90,000 deficit in 1949 until a Thanksgiving Day game between current Packers and former Packers raised $50,000 and kept the wolves away from the door and the team in Green Bay. But it took another stock drive the following year — offering 9,500 more shares again at $25 a share — to raise $118,000 and provide a more solid financial base if not a better football team.
1997 — With another Super Bowl title in its pocket, the franchise — by this time with 1,940 shareholders — offered 400,000 more shares to the public at $200 per share. When the feeding frenzy was over, there were 106,000 more shareholders on the books and $24 million more in the team's bank account. That helped when the Lambeau Field renovation loomed.
