they\u2019ve got deep-pocketed owners<\/a>, most of them are worth significantly more than that, and they could sell less than 10 percent of their team, give up no controlling interest, and raise a heck of a lot more than that,\u201d Policy said.<\/p>\n\u201cGiven the pace that the expenses have accelerated over the past few years, if we find ourselves falling behind, it\u2019s going to be really hard to catch up. So, we have to keep ourselves in a position where we\u2019re not falling behind.\u201d<\/p>\n
So what if the Packers eventually do fall behind? What happens if, at some point, the powers-that-be decide that the current business model doesn\u2019t work?<\/p>\n
On the surface, there would seem to be nothing to do. The Packers are publicly owned. Because the shares can\u2019t be sold, it\u2019s impossible for anyone to buy up controlling interest in the company.<\/p>\n
Still, the potential solution is fairly simple. Green Bay Packers, Inc. could, in theory, dissolve, with the assets of the corporation sold to an expansion franchise. The proceeds would then go to charity.<\/p>\n
It\u2019s right there in the team\u2019s Article VI of Articles of Incorporation: \u201cThat should there be a dissolution of the Green Bay Packers, Inc., the players shall be subject to the National Football League Rules, but that the undivided profits and assets of the Green Bay Packers, Inc. shall go to the Green Bay Packers Foundation for distribution to community programs, charitable causes, and such other similar cause to which the Foundation deems appropriate.\u201d<\/p>\n
Of course, leadership of the corporation would first have to choose to dissolve. It would be an option utilized as a last-ditch effort, if\/when the \u201cdeep-pocketed owners\u201d to whom Policy referred become sufficiently rich to spend the Packers into oblivion. And, frankly, if the absence of a traditional owner were to convert the Packers into the perennial loser that they were for most of the \u201870s and \u201880s, the fans could get behind a radical change in ownership structure.<\/p>\n
What of the shareholders, you ask? Those folks who paid good money for a piece of memorabilia that\u2019s framed on the wall? The many stock certificates would continue to have the value they currently possess \u2014 none at all.<\/p>\n
The stock can\u2019t be sold. It doesn\u2019t appreciate in value. It has no real value. It gets the \u201cowner\u201d nothing more than the official piece of paper and an invitation to the annual shareholder meeting.<\/p>\n
Based on conversations with those in the know, the league at large wouldn\u2019t be upset if it happened. The transition from corporation to traditional owner would introduce another multi-billionaire into the club. And with an expansion fee of at least $10 billion (much more if it happens in the not-foreseeable future), the other owners would share that payment equally.<\/p>\n
There\u2019s another benefit. If the Packers convert from a publicly-owned corporation, the franchise\u2019s books would be sealed shut. There would be no way to know how much money any team makes, and no way to isolate the shared revenue and multiply it by 32 to know more about how much money the league is making.<\/p>\n
It won\u2019t happen unless and until the Board of Directors decides to do it. But if it\u2019s determined that the current structure is keeping the team from being competitive, it\u2019s an option for giving an oligarch who owns a cheesehead the opportunity to modernize the ownership structure and to keep the franchise on equal footing with its competitors.<\/p>\n
The challenge would be to ensure that the Packers would stay put. Perhaps a commitment would be secured that the team would never move. The Packers, after all, must be in Green Bay. <\/p>\n
Even with that limitation, someone with billions to burn would take over the team, if the Packers ever decide to make a dramatic change in their structure for the long-term good of the franchise.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"During the slow time, the mind wanders. A question from a viewer during the summer run of #PFTPM…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":778989,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[63],"tags":[349,99],"class_list":["post-778988","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-nfl","tag-nfl","tag-sports"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/778988","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=778988"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/778988\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/778989"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=778988"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=778988"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=778988"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}