Because the Green Bay Packers are the NFL’s only publicly held team, they also are the only team required to open its books. The snapshot provided with the release of revenue figures from last season is of an industry that is very healthy and about to get even more rosy-cheeked.
And that’s even after a year the Packers could consider unremarkable, both in the standings and the bottom line.
The Packers reported record revenue over the last fiscal year, up $16 million from the year before, from $308.1 million to $324.1 million. A significant bulk of that comes from the more than $6 billion in television and other national revenue the league divides among its 32 teams.
And new TV deals kicking in next season will greatly grow the pie on which every team feeds.
Despite the revenue increase, the Packers operating profit actually fell 53 percent, from $54.3 million a year ago to $25.6 million. Player costs – some big-ticket contracts for both 2013 and 2014 kicked in during the same fiscal year – were to blame.
Packers Treasurer Mark McMullen indicated that dip was only temporary. Fear not, no NFL team will be holding fund-raising bake sales any time soon. “I think you have to look at the last two years together to get a sense of more normalized numbers,” he said. “Over the course of the collective bargaining agreement (which runs through the 2020 season), things will even out.”
I know what you’re asking: Exactly how did this Hummer fellow find the time and energy to go to Harvard Business School, especially at his age? He can’t balance a checkbook and now he’s talking about billions in national and local revenue?
And also: Why, again, are we chipping in $200 million in hotel/motel tax for a new Falcons stadium? And likely hundreds of millions more over 30 years, assuming they haven’t moved to another place before then? All to replace a dome that appeared to be in pretty good working order?
Granted, the Falcons are kind of the good guys in the local stadium building boom. Their private-to-public funding ratio looks downright altruistic compared to the Braves arrangement. Still it is good to remind ourselves at times like this of the absurdity of handing over precious public money to a for-profit enterprise so obviously brimming with vitality.
One glance at the Packers balance sheet suggests that it remains a very good time to be in the field of NFL ownership, what with revenues rising and the public trough still so conveniently in reach.
About the Author
