Hey all. I was thinking about special interests over the weekend. Everyone has them. Some people care a whole lot about one thing and not much about anything else. For some it’s cars, for others it’s crocheting. There was a kid I knew growing up who really liked trains; and I mean really liked trains. He could tell you everything there is to know about them. To be honest, at the time I thought it was a bit weird. Now, I think it’s pretty cool he was (and maybe still is?) so passionate about trains. It’s his thing.
Then there are the “Jack of all trades” types. They like to dabble in all matters of things. You don’t associate one specific interest with Jacks. I have no scientific data to back this up, but I would say most of us fit this latter category. I put myself there at least. Though I don’t have just one interest, there is a hierarchy with a trinity at the top. You don’t have to go out on a limb to guess that history and travel make up two points of this triangle. But what makes the trifecta? If know me just a little bit, you’ll know the answer is…sports!
So for me, the perfect activity is traveling to a historic sports stadium for a tour. That’s what happened at Lambeau Field in Green Bay, Wisconsin.
Some Packers History
Before we get into the field itself, let’s dive into the history of the National Football League (NFL) franchise that calls it home. The Green Bay Packers were established in 1919 by Curly Lambeau and George Calhoun, and are the third oldest NFL franchise (behind Da Bears and Cardinals). The Packers joined the NFL in 1921, the year after the league formed, with other teams such as the Hammond Pros and Rock Island Independents.
If you are like me, you might be wondering how they got the name Packers. It’s because they were originally sponsored by the Indiana Packing Co. (a meat packing company). Just as bakers bake and teachers teach, packers pack. Let’s discuss three other things that are interesting about the Packers franchise.
The Town
Green Bay is more of a town than a city. It boasts a population of about 107,000 residents as of the 2020 census. That’s pretty small, but this next set of statistics blew my mind. Per census.gov, the Green Bay metro has 321,000 residents. That not only makes it dead last of all 32 NFL teams in terms of population size, it’s also the only metro area with an NFL franchise not in the top 50. In fact, it ranks 157 and the next smallest NFL metro (Buffalo) is still three times bigger than Green Bay. Sometimes just saying something is the biggest or smallest doesn’t give the stat justice!
Driving around, it definitely has a small-town vibe rather than a city feel. Basically, once you get out of Lambeau’s direct vicinity, you could be in any other Wisconsin town. There are no big buildings or a myriad of freeways. I asked my son to take a photo to show how nothing outside Lambeau peaks over the trees.
It’s a bit grainy, but you get the picture. So how does Green Bay have an NFL franchise? A big reason is the second interesting thing.
The Franchise’s Ownership
The Packers are the only publicly-owned NFL franchise and have been for most of their existence. It’s not publicly traded in the traditional sense. You can’t hop on Fidelity and buy Packers stock like you can Apple or Microsoft. There have only been six stock sales in Packers history, with the most recent on occurring in 2022. There are no sales planned for the future.
Looking at the rules for purchasing shares is interesting too. The last sale in 2022 was for a total of 300,000 shares at $300 a piece. No one person can buy more than 200 total shares (including purchases from other windows) blocking a single person from gaining a majority control. There are no dividends offered and “Money raised from the offering will go toward ongoing construction projects at Lambeau Field, including new video boards and concourse upgrades.” Here is the whole Packers stock sale release for your reading pleasure. Pretty interesting, actually.
What’s this mean? First, stock holders are not getting a money return on their investment. They are literally investing in the Packers franchise only. It is basically a huge GoFundMe with the added benefit of saying you own a piece of the franchise. Second, it ensures that the Packers stay in Green Bay. The stock sales keep the franchise solvent and eliminate the threat of a majority owner uprooting the team for a more lucrative market.
Championships
The Packers have a total of thirteen NFL championships, four of which are Super Bowls. That is the most in the league by quite a bit. The second most is fellow NFC North franchise Da Bears with nine. So between the two of them they have 22 championships. Add the Lions four and you get a total of 26 championships in the division. Add the Vikings championships and…you still get 26. Even without any help for the Vikings, the NFC North has more championships than any other division by a mile.
What do you do when a franchise is this successful? You name the championship trophy after one of their coaches, of course! The Super Bowl trophy is named after Vince Lombardi, who coached the Packers from 1959 to 1967. I was about to say the trophy is named after the Packers coach with the most championships, but that isn’t accurate. Lombardi won five championships (including the first two Super Bowls), while Curly Lambeau won six.
Lambeau Field
I spent a bit longer talking about the Packers than originally planned. It’s an interesting franchise, though, as was the tour of Lambeau Field. I opted for the Champions Tour at $38 per person.
Full disclosure before going further: A lot of the above info I got from our tour guide, Jeff. But that is what you expect from a good tour, right? I also “borrowed” his Vikings joke. He was great at playfully ribbing the other teams in the Packers’ division.
The NFL isn’t really known for its historic stadiums. In fact, Lambeau, built in 1957, is the oldest continuously used stadium in the league. Most franchises have opted to tear down their original stadiums and build newer and shinier buildings. The Packers chose to build up instead. The result is a beautiful stadium. It doesn’t always work out that way. Sorry Bears fans, but the renovated Soldier Field (built in 1924, but the Bears didn’t move in until 1971) is a bit of an eyesore.
Lambeau Tour
On the tour, we got to visit the ginormous statue of the Vince Lombardi Trophy, see some of the suites, walk down the Packers tunnel, and get right next to the field. Jeff was giving us info all the way along. One thing he brought up was something I should’ve realized.
Back in the day, late season games at Lambeau always had the potential to turn into mud baths. It was super fun to watch on TV, but was a huge cost burden and definitely hindered the players’ athletic performance. In 2007, the Packers sought to fix this problem. Who did they turn to? That’s right, football. Huh? Okay, for simplicity’s sake, we’ll refer to it as soccer. The Packers consulted with European soccer clubs on how to best manage the field. One of the big changes that came was using a hybrid of synthetic grass stitched into the field mixed with real Kentucky bluegrass. The result? No more mud bowls. Kind of sad, but all good things must come to an end.
Another interesting thing that Jeff pointed out is that the top row of the original Lambeau is marked with yellow seating. It is a neat idea. You can clearly imagine what the original looked like, but the transition to the new remains seamless.
Packers Hall of Fame
Included with three tour tickets is access to the Packers Hall of Fame. They have a rich history, so there is quite a bit of content here. I think this video explains it all, though:
That is a whole lot of championship trophies!
The Verdict
9 out of 10. Lambeau Field is the perfect blend of old and new. The Champions Tour with Jeff at the helm was engaging and provided access to a lot of Lambeau’s features. Due to policies in place, no tours are allowed in the Packers locker room, which was the only real strike against it.
Green Bay is unique in modern professional sports. There will never be a franchise in a town the size of Green Bay again. We traveled to Wisconsin to visit family and I had no plans of writing a post. As we are finding out together though, history is everywhere we go if we are willing to look.
Have you taken a stadium tour? Let me know on the comments!