Time is running out for this Green Light Special: Fans who want to buy Green Bay Packers stocks only have five days left.
The team issued a reminder about the deadline on Thursday. Fans have until 11:59 p.m. Friday, Feb. 25 to get their cut of the cheese.
“Orders cannot be processed after 11:59 p.m. on the final day of the sale,” Green Bay’s official website warns.
So how empty are the shelves at Packer Mart? As of its Thursday announcement, the team says it processed 175,874 transactions. Fans have bought 194,537 of the available 300,000 shares.
At $300 per share, that means the Packers have raised about $64.5 million so far in the latest stock offering. The team plans to use the “investor” cash for Lambeau Field construction projects including concourse upgrades and new videoboards.
What powers do I have after I buy Green Bay Packers shares?
Imagine a world where fans of Green Bay’s division rivals used the stock sale for a corporate raid and directed team GM Brian Gutekunst to jettison LB De’Vondre Campbell for a seventh-round pick.
In the real world, however, new stockholders likely don’t even get a free pretzel from the upgraded concourse they just paid for.
The $300 purchase gets you a certificate and a sense of pride. Fans chip in because they want a good team at a good stadium.
Just for emphasis: Fans won’t own stock “in the common sense of the term,” according to the team. Stock offering participants shouldn’t expect any profit, dividend or tax deduction from their Green Bay shares.
The Packers don’t have an obligation to repay its investors either. Green Bay and the NFL “severely restrict” stock transfers as well. (That explains why a third of the stocks are still available.)
This is only the sixth stock-offering in franchise history.
How do I ‘buy the Green Bay Packers?’
NFL franchises are owed by deep-pocketed investors. The league allows occasional Green Bay stock offerings so the publicly-owned franchise can keep pace with its peers.
“We appreciate the interest that fans have expressed in our sixth stock offering,” Packers President and CEO Mark Murphy previously said in a statement on the team’s official website.
- Expect a handling fee with the $300 purchase.
- The team limits sales to no more than 200 shares per individual (or couple at the same address).
- Terms limit sales to residents in the US, Guam, Puerto Rico and the US Virgin Islands.
- Fans can become owners using credit and debit cards or electronic bank transfers online. Mailed personal checks and cashier’s checks are other options.
- The team issues offering documents to its prospective shareholders.
Can I own Packers stock and still bet on the team in Iowa?
PlayIA checked when shares first went on sale. The word from Iowa Racing And Gaming Commission (IRGC) administrator Brian Ohorilko is yes. Go ahead and make your Green Bay futures bets. This is where your lack of power as a ceremonial “owner” has some benefit. In order to be barred from Iowa bets, Ohorilko said:
“It would have to be someone who is a substantial owner. We don’t have specific rules or requirements. But someone who owned 1/1,000 of a percent of a company is probably a different consideration than someone who owns 5% of a professional sporting team.”
Right now, the Green Bay Packers are the second choice to represent the NFC at Super Bowl LVII in 2023. They have the sixth-best odds to hoist the Lombardi Trophy.
