Besides the Green Bay packers, public trading of an NFL team is not possible nor will publicly traded NFL teams be allowed in the future. The NFL rule, known as the Green Bay Rule, written as Article V, Section 4 in the NFL constitution states that “charitable organizations and/or corporations not organized for profit and not now a member of the league may not hold membership in the National Football League” (Zirin, 2011, paragraph 5).
However, the reason that the Green Bay Packers resorted to public trading was an honest reason. In 1923, the Packers were in danger of going bankrupt, a solution needed that would keep the NFL team inside the city. To keep the team from leaving the city, shares of stock were sold to the community. Green Bay fans all contributed to the cause, each citizen spending about two dollars each to save the team. The stock solution did the trick, the team becoming a future stock holder’s dream. Today, approximately a hundred thousand stockholders own about four million shares of Green Bay Packers stock. Add to the fact that Green Bay has won Super Bowl rings under the leadership of Brett Favre and Aaron Rodgers, the decision to become a publicly traded team seemed to pay off for the NFL team (Zirin, 2011). Publicly traded team have more of a potential to make huge profits that can go toward helping the team to bring in needed revenue, this revenue helping teams to get better players. Many reasons exist for the NFL not allowing teams to be publicly traded.
One of the reasons that it is forbidden by the NFL is the chance for some teams, such as The Green Bay Packers, to grow rich off of selling stock, which is not fair to the rest of the NFL teams. According to the article, “Green Bay’s Right To Sell Stock Should Be Abolished” by David Lariviere, this huge financial advantage is evident in the following passage, which describes the Packers as, “The team, the only publicly traded franchise in all U.S. team sports, sold 185,000 shares of stock for $250 each, plus a $25 handling fee, and, as of Dec. 8, the Packers have raised between $43 million and $47 million, depending on which media outlet you read. The funds will go toward a $143 million expansion of Lambeau Field resulting in 6,700 additional seats, new high-definition video screens and a new entrance by 2013” (Lariviere, 2011, paragraph 2).
What makes it even more unfair is that when other teams need money, they have to struggle financially and ask the state and counties for help, which can take a lot of time to do. Many times, teams need money to build a new stadium, do renovations, and to make other physical improvements. It is not fair that Green Bay can just sell off some stock to be able to get the money that is needed for these things. Many teams are stuck between a rock and a hard place, due to not being to update their stadium. It is not secret that the Los Angeles Raiders have a stadium roof that leaks. Yet, the Packers have not had to worry about getting the necessary funds for team needs. Historically, the Packers have been able to use stocks to their advantage. In 1997, a $293 million Lambeau field restoration project was able to be partially funded by selling stocks in the Packers. While selling of stocks did not finance the entire project, about 120,000 shares, at a price of $200 a piece per share, helped to gather about $24 million used for the Packer stadium’s 2003 repairs (Brandt, 2011).
Unfortunately, other teams have been ordered by the NFL to do stadium repairs when the city cannot afford to finance them. For example, In 2014, NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell told the Buffalo Bills that they have to repair Ralph Wilson Stadium in order to remain a contender and viable in the Buffalo area (Rodak, 2014). With Buffalo being the second poorest city in New York State, finding the stadium restoration funds has not been an easy feat.
Yet, it is not just the repairs and renovations that can make things unjust for all of the other non-publicly traded teams. The game of football can also be compromised when public trading is used. For instance, if the Packers need to trade for a new player or replace somebody who is hurt, but need more money, they can just sell some shares of stock to get the necessary funds. This places other NFL teams at an unfair advantage, these teams often having to suffer and go through losing seasons due to a lack of capital. For a team that is publicly traded, they do not have to work as hard to sell league merchandise, season tickets, and other NFL paraphernalia. A team such as the Packers always has the option of selling some stock.
Publicly traded teams also reduce the chances for raising money for private owners, private ownership often bordering on greed. The article, “Those Nonprofit Packers” by Zirin (2011) shows evidence of this by stating that, “Being an N.F.L. owner is like having a license to print money. Television contracts alone run in the billions, with the 2006-2011 contracts valued at approximately $3 billion annually, $800 million more than the previous contracts” (Zirin, 2011, paragraph 7). This alone make public trading look non attractive to the NFL, who can get more money via private ownership, which is why the Green Bay Rule was implemented.
In spite of the Green Bay Packers being a publicly traded NFL team, the team able to raise funds by selling shares of these stocks, these shares being a way to raise millions for renovations, no other team in the NFL is public traded. In many ways, this is unfair, teams such as the Buffalo Bills struggling to raise needed funds for a new stadium. The NFL is opposed to public trading of teams based on the unfairness to other teams, more funds available to the Packers, and the loss of money for private owners. Due to the NFL constitution, known as the Green Bay Rule, no other NFL team will ever be publicly traded, private ownership of NFL teams here to stay.
