Two of the Wisconsin’s border states made a huge imprint on the Green Bay Packers latest stock sale. I guess there are many residents disgruntled with the Pack’s two main rivals: the Chicago Bears and the Minnesota Vikings.
Wisconsin fans purchased approximately 50 percent of the shares in this sale, by far the most by one state but a lower percentage than in 1997. Illinois and California were next with 8.5 percent apiece, followed by Minnesota and Texas with 5 percent each.
The fifth stock sale in team history closed at midnight Wednesday with the Packers raising almost half of the money needed for the Lambeau Field expansion that’s already underway.
Final sale numbers are not yet available, but more than 268,000 shares were sold at $250 apiece during the 12-week sale, contributing roughly $67 million in revenue toward the $143 million Lambeau project.
Before considering a stock sale, the Packers had secured all the financing necessary for the Lambeau expansion, which is adding two high-definition video boards and a new north-side entrance tower in 2012, and then 6,700 additional seats and a new entrance gate in the south end zone in 2013. The money from the stock sale reduces considerably the amount the team needs to borrow to finance the Lambeau project.
The sale more than tripled the team’s total number of shareholders. More than 250,000 new shareholders were added to the existing 112,000, bringing the franchise’s total to more than 360,000 shareholders.
That almost certainly will lead to the franchise’s largest shareholders meeting this coming summer, which in the past has been attended by between 10,000 and 20,000 people, some the guests of shareholders.
Paul M. Banks is CEO of The Sports Bank.net, an official Google News site generating millions of unique visitors. He’s also a regular contributor to Chicago Now, Walter Football.com, Yardbarker, and Fox Sports
A Fulbright scholar and MBA, Banks has appeared on live radio all over the world; and he’s a member of the Football Writers Association of America, U.S. Basketball Writers Association, and Society of Professional Journalists. The President of the United States follows him on Twitter (@Paul_M_BanksTSB) You should too.