The Green Bay Packers had an operating loss of $1.1 million during the 2025 season, according to the NFL team’s annual financial statements released Friday.

The figure was down from an $83.8 million profit for 2024, and it was the first loss for the team since the 1989 season, outside of the COVID-19-impacted 2020 season played without fans at Lambeau Field.

“The Packers are in very strong financial shape, and we’re going to invest whatever it takes to field a championship-caliber team,” Packers CEO Ed Policy said during a video call with reporters. “The NFL is more competitive than ever, both on and off the field. It’s more expensive than ever to run an NFL team.”

The loss was triggered by a $130 million increase in player costs to $440 million, including more than $70 million in player benefits. Policy called it an “abnormal year” on the player cost side “driven by the structure and timing of player contracts.” He highlighted the trade for Micah Parsons, which included a new $188 million contract with a $44 million signing bonus, as well as the releases of Jaire Alexander, Elgton Jenkins, and Nate Hobbs, and the trade of Rashan Gary.

The loss is an anomaly due to the inflated player costs, but it is a rare financial happening in a league where team stakes are getting sold at more than $10 billion, and the average team EBITDA is $150 million. Note that the Packers’ operating loss does include tens of millions of dollars in non-cash charges tied to depreciation. The club wouldn’t specify the total depreciation but said it was increasing due to construction projects around Lambeau.

It wasn’t all bad for the Packers, as the team posted $133.6 million in non-operating income that resulted in net income of $132.5 million, up from $85.6 million—non-operating income was $1.9 million in 2024. Policy credited gains on the team’s investments—the S&P 500 rose 18% last year—and the NFL’s 2026 sale of NFL Network to ESPN.

The NFL assumed a 10% ownership in ESPN worth $3 billion as part of the deal. That sits on the books of the league’s 32 Equity investment arm, and 1/32 of any gains or losses in the entity flow through the Packers’ non-operating income.

Overall revenue rose 4.7% to $753 million. National revenue, derived from shared media rights, league sponsorships, NFL events, licensing and international business, was $453.2 million, up 4.8% from the previous season. NFL teams book slightly different figures for their national revenue, but the Packers’ number implies gross national revenue of $14.5 billion for the league, as Sportico first reported earlier this week.

Local revenue rose 4.7% to $299.8 million in a year when the team had eight regular-season home games, which command the highest prices and attendance—there were nine home games in 2024.

“I think we’re going to have to be more aggressive with new revenue generation,” Policy said. “The cost of competing in the NFL is going up, and other teams have access to capital sources that we just don’t have.”

Policy referenced teams selling minority stakes to institutional and individual investors and highlighted the Miami Dolphins’ sale of 1% of the team and its related business at a $12.5 billion valuation. His plans to increase local revenue include more events at Lambeau Field—the team is set to host a Notre Dame and Wisconsin game Sept. 6—and more sponsorship revenue. Policy said naming rights to Lambeau would not be sold.

Policy said there are no plans to change the structure of Packers ownership as the only NFL team owned by fans. There are about 539,000 stockholders that own 5.2 million shares. The team pays no dividends, and shares cannot be publicly traded.

The Packers’ version of a billionaire owner is their corporate reserve fund. It started more than 30 years ago as a rainy-day fund, primarily in case of a work stoppage. The balance of the fund is now $701 million, up from $579 million a year ago.

“It’s important that we maintain and grow [the fund] just because we don’t have that wealthy owner,” Policy said. “Other teams are able to capitalize on bringing in limited partners, whether they’re private equity or otherwise. But they also do tend to have very high-net-worth individuals owning those teams who can, if needed, contribute capital at any time.”