freeagent
Six-man pro
Guys, I gotta tell you this story.
Got a note from a friend of mine who lives in Green Bay, asking if I was coming up to the game this Sunday.
He tells me that his next-door neighbor is Aaron Kampman, the Pack's starting defensive end. Ho, hum, big deal you says ...
One day, my friend comes home and here is Aaron on his riding lawnmower, cutting my friend's lawn ...
http://www.jsonline.com/story/index.aspx?id=707006
Forget the wind chill. How 'bout that windfall?
With the Packers' season in double overtime, Brown County businesses are seeing green
By DON WALKER
[email protected]
Posted: Jan. 14, 2008
Jerry Watson, who runs the Stadium View bar near Lambeau Field, was at the bank Monday, turning over the proceeds from a busy playoff weekend.
Next Monday, he'll be back, dropping off another load of cash and coin, thanks to an amazing turn of events that gave the Green Bay Packers another home playoff game on Sunday, this time for the NFC Championship and a trip to Super Bowl XLII. "It's huge," Watson shouted from his cell phone as he made his deposit. "It's huge for everyone, from the butcher to the baker to the candlestick maker and everyone in between."
The football experts didn't quite see this coming. Conventional wisdom had the Dallas Cowboys, the No. 1 seed in the NFC, defeating the New York Giants and hosting the NFC Championship Game in Dallas.
But the Cowboys lost to the Giants on Sunday at Texas Stadium and that sent the game to Green Bay.
The Packers, their fans and area businesses couldn't be happier.
"All eyes were on the TV on Sunday," said Brenda Krainik, director of marketing for the Packer Country Visitor and Convention Bureau. "We were definitely glad to see this happen. Surrounding businesses are thrilled."
Paul Jadin, the former mayor of Green Bay who is president of the Green Bay Area Chamber of Commerce, said the business community was ready to handle an influx of happy Packers fans.
"There's no question there is an awful lot of excitement going on beyond the ability to get back to the Super Bowl," he said. "You're talking about a 10-game season that became an 11-game season, and now a 12-game season. Each of those games is a gold mine. You anticipate 10, and if you get lucky, you get 11. Twelve is totally unanticipated."
In 2000, Packer Country and the Chamber of Commerce commissioned an economic impact study of just what effect Packers home games have on the local economy. The study indicated each home game accounted for $4 million being pumped into the local economy. Krainik indicated that, with inflation, the number is even higher now.
Sports economists tend to throw cold water on such studies, saying they often rely on unreliable or exaggerated data. Krainik said the study was based on information provided by the Packers and fan interviews.
According to the study, Green season-ticket holders spend an average of $31.88 per game in Brown County, not including the price of the ticket and money spent inside Lambeau Field. For Gold, or Milwaukee, season-ticket holders, the average spending per fan per game is $57.40.
At the Hilton Garden Inn on Lombardi Ave., near the stadium, all 123 rooms are booked this weekend. Elizabeth Schaick, a manager at the hotel, said that on a normal wintry January weekend without football the hotel is usually 70% sold.
"But this does help out in a big way," she said.
The same is true down the street at the Tundra Lodge Resort and Waterpark. This weekend, there is not a room to be found among the resort's 161 rooms. But a spokesman said the resort normally is close to selling out on January weekends because families want a winter break from the cold and snow.
Krainik said the phones in her office were chiming constantly with people from out of town calling for hotel rooms and the best places to eat.
One favorite stopping point for visitors is Oneida Casino, which normally gets larger crowds on Packers weekends, said Bobbi Webster, a casino spokesman. Last weekend, she said, the casino had a big turnout and expects a big crowd this weekend as well.
Mike Wier, the owner of Kroll's West across the street from Lambeau, said he was not surprised by the Packers' win over the Seattle Seahawks and the Cowboys' loss to the Giants. He said he was ready for another big weekend at his restaurant and the adjacent parking lots he operates.
"It's a great impact for us," Wier said. "We'll have a huge weekend this weekend. It usually quiets down in Green Bay after New Year's."
Wier said he usually serves 2,000 to 3,000 hungry Packer backers on game days. At the Stadium View, Watson said he has about 60 people on staff on a normal January weekend. This weekend, he said, he'll have 190 workers on duty.
"Our capacity is 1,700 people, and from noon on Sunday to about two in the morning, I'll have about 1,700 people in here," Watson said.
Krainik said the region has about 4,500 hotel rooms, and that should be enough to handle everyone staying in town. She added that tourism officials expect many people to come to Green Bay without a game ticket just so they can be part of the playoff atmosphere.
Because the Sunday game came as a surprise, at least one event has been forced to reschedule, Krainik said. A long-planned RV and camping show scheduled to run Thursday through Sunday at ShopKo Hall will close one day early because of the game.
While money will be made all over town, there is also the intangible impact of hosting a high-profile sporting event. All week, newspapers, radio stations, TV stations and networks around the country will talk about Green Bay and the Packers and their unique history.
"You don't have to pay for that advertising," Jadin said. "We have to be prepared to show the world that this is the gem people talk about. Yes, it will be cold, but there are reasons to appreciate the weather."
Because it's a championship event, the game is technically an NFL production, not a Packers game. All ticket revenue from playoff games is put in a pool, which is distributed to all NFL teams. The Packers will be reimbursed for the team's expenses hosting two playoff games.
However, one of the main reasons Lambeau Field was refurbished was to give the Packers a chance to compete with the larger markets in the NFL. The nearly $300 million makeover has allowed the Packers to generate more in-stadium revenue, which they can keep. That means revenue from concessions - though some of that is shared with nonprofit groups - and the sale of programs and merchandise.
Also, under the terms of the leases the franchise has with about 160 suite holders in the stadium, an additional fee is assessed for playoff games. That's revenue the Packers did not expect to have.
In the last fiscal year, ending March 31, 2007, the Packers reported operating revenue of $218 million, including marketing revenue of $40.7 million, and an overall profit of $22 million. And that was a year in which the Packers didn't make the playoffs.
Now they're in the playoffs. And businesses, Packers fans and the franchise are pinching themselves at their good fortune.
Meg Jones of the Journal Sentinel staff, reporting from Green Bay, contributed to this report.
Got a note from a friend of mine who lives in Green Bay, asking if I was coming up to the game this Sunday.
He tells me that his next-door neighbor is Aaron Kampman, the Pack's starting defensive end. Ho, hum, big deal you says ...
One day, my friend comes home and here is Aaron on his riding lawnmower, cutting my friend's lawn ...
http://www.jsonline.com/story/index.aspx?id=707006
Forget the wind chill. How 'bout that windfall?
With the Packers' season in double overtime, Brown County businesses are seeing green
By DON WALKER
[email protected]
Posted: Jan. 14, 2008
Jerry Watson, who runs the Stadium View bar near Lambeau Field, was at the bank Monday, turning over the proceeds from a busy playoff weekend.
Next Monday, he'll be back, dropping off another load of cash and coin, thanks to an amazing turn of events that gave the Green Bay Packers another home playoff game on Sunday, this time for the NFC Championship and a trip to Super Bowl XLII. "It's huge," Watson shouted from his cell phone as he made his deposit. "It's huge for everyone, from the butcher to the baker to the candlestick maker and everyone in between."
The football experts didn't quite see this coming. Conventional wisdom had the Dallas Cowboys, the No. 1 seed in the NFC, defeating the New York Giants and hosting the NFC Championship Game in Dallas.
But the Cowboys lost to the Giants on Sunday at Texas Stadium and that sent the game to Green Bay.
The Packers, their fans and area businesses couldn't be happier.
"All eyes were on the TV on Sunday," said Brenda Krainik, director of marketing for the Packer Country Visitor and Convention Bureau. "We were definitely glad to see this happen. Surrounding businesses are thrilled."
Paul Jadin, the former mayor of Green Bay who is president of the Green Bay Area Chamber of Commerce, said the business community was ready to handle an influx of happy Packers fans.
"There's no question there is an awful lot of excitement going on beyond the ability to get back to the Super Bowl," he said. "You're talking about a 10-game season that became an 11-game season, and now a 12-game season. Each of those games is a gold mine. You anticipate 10, and if you get lucky, you get 11. Twelve is totally unanticipated."
In 2000, Packer Country and the Chamber of Commerce commissioned an economic impact study of just what effect Packers home games have on the local economy. The study indicated each home game accounted for $4 million being pumped into the local economy. Krainik indicated that, with inflation, the number is even higher now.
Sports economists tend to throw cold water on such studies, saying they often rely on unreliable or exaggerated data. Krainik said the study was based on information provided by the Packers and fan interviews.
According to the study, Green season-ticket holders spend an average of $31.88 per game in Brown County, not including the price of the ticket and money spent inside Lambeau Field. For Gold, or Milwaukee, season-ticket holders, the average spending per fan per game is $57.40.
At the Hilton Garden Inn on Lombardi Ave., near the stadium, all 123 rooms are booked this weekend. Elizabeth Schaick, a manager at the hotel, said that on a normal wintry January weekend without football the hotel is usually 70% sold.
"But this does help out in a big way," she said.
The same is true down the street at the Tundra Lodge Resort and Waterpark. This weekend, there is not a room to be found among the resort's 161 rooms. But a spokesman said the resort normally is close to selling out on January weekends because families want a winter break from the cold and snow.
Krainik said the phones in her office were chiming constantly with people from out of town calling for hotel rooms and the best places to eat.
One favorite stopping point for visitors is Oneida Casino, which normally gets larger crowds on Packers weekends, said Bobbi Webster, a casino spokesman. Last weekend, she said, the casino had a big turnout and expects a big crowd this weekend as well.
Mike Wier, the owner of Kroll's West across the street from Lambeau, said he was not surprised by the Packers' win over the Seattle Seahawks and the Cowboys' loss to the Giants. He said he was ready for another big weekend at his restaurant and the adjacent parking lots he operates.
"It's a great impact for us," Wier said. "We'll have a huge weekend this weekend. It usually quiets down in Green Bay after New Year's."
Wier said he usually serves 2,000 to 3,000 hungry Packer backers on game days. At the Stadium View, Watson said he has about 60 people on staff on a normal January weekend. This weekend, he said, he'll have 190 workers on duty.
"Our capacity is 1,700 people, and from noon on Sunday to about two in the morning, I'll have about 1,700 people in here," Watson said.
Krainik said the region has about 4,500 hotel rooms, and that should be enough to handle everyone staying in town. She added that tourism officials expect many people to come to Green Bay without a game ticket just so they can be part of the playoff atmosphere.
Because the Sunday game came as a surprise, at least one event has been forced to reschedule, Krainik said. A long-planned RV and camping show scheduled to run Thursday through Sunday at ShopKo Hall will close one day early because of the game.
While money will be made all over town, there is also the intangible impact of hosting a high-profile sporting event. All week, newspapers, radio stations, TV stations and networks around the country will talk about Green Bay and the Packers and their unique history.
"You don't have to pay for that advertising," Jadin said. "We have to be prepared to show the world that this is the gem people talk about. Yes, it will be cold, but there are reasons to appreciate the weather."
Because it's a championship event, the game is technically an NFL production, not a Packers game. All ticket revenue from playoff games is put in a pool, which is distributed to all NFL teams. The Packers will be reimbursed for the team's expenses hosting two playoff games.
However, one of the main reasons Lambeau Field was refurbished was to give the Packers a chance to compete with the larger markets in the NFL. The nearly $300 million makeover has allowed the Packers to generate more in-stadium revenue, which they can keep. That means revenue from concessions - though some of that is shared with nonprofit groups - and the sale of programs and merchandise.
Also, under the terms of the leases the franchise has with about 160 suite holders in the stadium, an additional fee is assessed for playoff games. That's revenue the Packers did not expect to have.
In the last fiscal year, ending March 31, 2007, the Packers reported operating revenue of $218 million, including marketing revenue of $40.7 million, and an overall profit of $22 million. And that was a year in which the Packers didn't make the playoffs.
Now they're in the playoffs. And businesses, Packers fans and the franchise are pinching themselves at their good fortune.
Meg Jones of the Journal Sentinel staff, reporting from Green Bay, contributed to this report.
