Packers report record revenue, expenses
GREEN BAY – The Green Bay Packers handled record amounts of money last year, both coming in the door and going out.
The NFL’s smallest-market team, and the only one that reports its finances, said it had a record $477.9 million in revenue and a record $477.2 million in expenses during the fiscal year that ended March 31.
“For the long term, we are in a strong, stable financial position,” said Packers President and CEO Mark Murphy. “It was a unique year. We did have some atypical expenses. I don’t see any of these as longterm issues.”
Those atypical expenses, which contributed to a $56 million year-to-year increase, included free agent signings, coaching staff changes, payments to a league-wide concussion settlement, and costs of the Packers’ 100 Seasons celebration.
The team reported net income of $8.4 million, compared with $38.6 million the year before. Profit from operations was $724,000, compared with $34.1 million the previous year.
Total revenue, rather than net income, is the more significant number in Packers’ finances because all money, whether profit or not, goes into team operations or the community. Net income, however, does show how well the team keeps expenses under control.
As always, national revenue was a significant income source for the Packers, providing more than enough to cover player expenses. National revenue includes TV deals, road-game revenue sharing and other income, such as NFL media operations, and is distributed equally to all NFL teams.
National revenue for the year was $274.3 million, an $18.4 million increase from the year before. Packers player costs were $242 million, a $30 million increase, $10 million of which was attributed to an increase in the salary cap.
“We have the resources available to put into our football operations to make sure we can continue to compete for Super Bowls and championships,” Murphy said.
Local income was $203.7 million, a $4.7 million increase. Murphy said there was a sense that missing the playoffs two years in a row cut into Lambeau Field Atrium revenue in the form of reduced Packers Pro Shop sales, Packers Hall of Fame visits and visitor spending, but it is difficult to attribute all of that to on-field performance.
Contact Richard Ryman at (920) 4318342 or rryman@gannett.com. Follow him on Twitter at @RichRymanPG, on Instagram at @rrymanPG or on Facebook at www.facebook.com/RichardRymanPG/