It’s anyone’s guess on how the young Packers team will end the year and the coming season. Are the Packers going to be 10-7, or are they going to be 7-10?
An optimist about the Packers for 70 years, I’m going with 10-7. I like what I see of Jordon Love who has all the tools of being really good. But we don’t know if he has the mentality to put the hammer down in crunch time.
I think the community thinks like I think – that it’s going to be a good season even if it’s a rebuilding year. For the most part, the fans I’ve talked to are ready for an end to the quarterback soap operas that marked the end of the careers of Brett Favre and Aaron Rodgers. They are ready for a return to the days of their other Hall of Fame quarterback Bart Starr, who was as wonderful off the field as on.
Love has already shown that he is more like Starr (right) as an all-around adult.
Packers stockholders, an astounding 537,460 strong, have every right to be proud of the organization they own. They don’t want to be known primarily for quarterback tantrums.
There’s plenty to be proud of, because the Green Bay Packers is an exceptional organization. They are the only nonprofit community corporation in a league marked with billionaire greed. The century-old team is about more than winning seasons and financial success, though they are outstanding in both categories.
My dad was secretary-treasurer when the club decided to walk the talk and become transparent with its finances. They believed that the community would understand the need to make a healthy profit so the team could compete with competitors from bigger markets.
It just released its 2022 financials that show how well they are doing. Revenues for the 2022-2023 fiscal year reached a record $610 million, an increase from $579 million the year before. Bottom line profits averaged 8.6% over the two years. That is a very healthy margin.
People may lose sight of the fact that some of the team’s directors have run very large corporations, some with revenues of more than a billion dollars. A majority of the directors and executive committee are very shrewd business people.
The continued profitability in recent decades has allowed the Packers to create a foundation of almost $50 million in assets. Ten of the Packers directors serve on the foundation board. The Green Bay Packers Foundation was started in 1986 to fund its “GiveBack” initiative.
In 2022 the foundation made 243 grants, totaling $1.25 million. The grants were typically in the $3000 to $5000 range and were sprinkled to good projects across the state. Family-supporting programs were the most common recipients.
The corporate ethos of community leadership carries over to the players. Many put themselves behind local projects.
It’s always good to be part of a winning and upstanding organization. Wisconsin owners of the Packers are blessed to be able to do good through the Packers charitable and business acumen, while also enjoying the Packers’ exploits on the field.
Go, Pack, go!
