Milwaukee Journal Sentinel - Packer Plus
NFL draft, international game among hot topics
Green Bay — Perhaps the biggest Green Bay Packers news last Wednesday was the release of defensive lineman Mike Daniels, but it was not mentioned during the team’s annual shareholders meeting.
Which is all the evidence you need that professional football is a business and remorselessly so.
Every year, popular players leave the team, voluntarily or not, but the business of the Packers goes on, and the Packers are good on that front, team President and CEO Mark Murphy said.
Among the more interesting topics addressed during and after the meeting was whether Green Bay could host an NFL draft, when the Packers would play in London and what’s new with the Titletown District residential development.
So, in that order:
NFL draft
Murphy reiterated the Packers have applied to the NFL to host a draft in 2022 or 2024 and beyond, though he acknowledged that 2024 or later is more likely. The team believes the new Brown County expo center is a requirement to hosting the draft. It’s scheduled to be completed in early 2021, but the team would like it to have been operational for a time before trying to host something as big as the draft.
Drafts will be in Las Vegas in 2020, Cleveland in 2021 and Kansas City in 2023.
The draft has become a large event for the NFL and some question whether it might have already outgrown Green Bay. Murphy said the NFL wants to draft to be in cities that won’t get to host a Super Bowl and that Green Bay is a possible site.
International appeal
The Packers are the only NFL team that hasn’t played or isn’t scheduled to play a regular-season game in London or Mexico City. That’s because teams that could host the Packers at one of those sites choose not to, preferring to have the well-followed team’s fans in their home stadiums. The Packers have said they will not give up a home game.
Murphy said the Packers want to play internationally and told the league that its Aug. 22 preseason game in Winnipeg doesn’t count.
Titletown Phase 2 among the other topics
❚ The Packers have begun construction on the next phase of the Titletown Development, which includes a 140-unit apartment building and townhouses. A new website, Titletownhomes.com, includes updated information and new renderings. Prices have not been announced.
❚ The Packers earlier in July reported a record $477.9 million in revenue and a record $477.2 million in expenses during the fiscal year that ended March
31. 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.
❚ Shareholders elected former Packers players George Koonce and Eric Torkelson to the 42-member board of directors.
❚ Attendance for Wednesday’s meeting was well below normal at 4,200.