Packers Feel Financial Sting from COVID-19
GREEN BAY, Wis. – Before the start of training camp last year, with the nation in the throes of the COVID-19 pandemic, Green Bay Packers President Mark Murphy said the team was entering “unchartered waters.”
With the prospect of playing games in empty or mostly empty stadiums, Murphy predicted the financial impact from the pandemic would be “significant.” Sure enough, the wrath of COVID had a dramatic impact on the team’s bottom line. With local revenue crashing, the Packers lost $38.8 million in the last fiscal-year, the team reported on Friday.
“It was the first time we haven’t had a profit in over 20 years,” Murphy said. The last time, he said, was before the major stadium renovation completed in 2003.
With empty stadiums throughout the regular season and drastically reduced traffic at ancillary businesses such as the Packers Pro Shop and stadium tours, the team’s local revenue plummeted from $210.9 million in fiscal-year 2020 to just $61.8 million in fiscal-year 2021. That’s a $149.1 million decrease, or 70.7 percent.
So, while national revenue grew by $13.2 million due in part to the expanded playoffs and team expenses dropped by $26.7 million, the team endured a negative financial swing of $109.1 million compared to the $70.3 profit from the previous fiscal-year.
The numbers are staggering, if not totally unexpected.
“COVID obviously impacted the Packers from a financial perspective,” Murphy said. “Our local revenue was significantly impacted. Still, we really feel that we remain in a strong financial position going forward and that we will continue to be able to provide the resources for the organization to be successful both on and off the field. As we all faced health and economic challenges with the pandemic, we really feel we emerged in a very good financial position.”
National revenue was $309.2 million. That means the team’s 32 teams shared a financial pie of $9.894 billion, an increase of more than $42 million. With the dawn of the 17-game season, the league figures to surpass $10 billion for the first time this coming year.
However, the decline in local revenue was the story. In fiscal-year 2020, the team for the first time surpassed $500 million in total revenue. In 2021, that tumbled 26.8 percent to $371.1 million. Officially, the team had zero paying customers for its eight regular-season home games and listed an attendance of 15,211 for the two playoff games. In 2019, the Packers hosted 622,762 fans for their eight home games plus 78,998 fans for the playoff victory over Seattle. So, even while playing one more game at Lambeau Field, the Packers played in front of 686,549 fewer paying customers.
Nonetheless, the national revenue alone was enough to pay the players.
“It’s a real credit to the league that we were able to play a full slate of regular-season games and postseason games,” Murphy said. “It was really crucial. We knew if we were able to get all the games broadcast that that would cover all of our player expenses.”
On the bright side, the team’s corporate reserve fund grew by $120 million to a whopping $491 million due to what Murphy called an “unprecedented rebound in the investment markets” after the COVID-related market downturn in March 2020. So, the team won’t be forced to go old-school and pass the hat around the bleachers for donations this season.
Fiscal-year 2022 started on April 1, so a strong financial bounce-back is the expectation. The team intends to play its home games with Lambeau Field at full capacity, including the rows closest to the field and players. That means a lot of tickets will be sold, beer will be served and fans will tour the hallowed stadium.
“We’re planning for 100 percent capacity,” Murphy said. “We’re going to have fans back at training camp; we’re excited about that. … We’re obviously going to follow closely with what’s going on with the pandemic, the delta variant, and we’ll be guided by CDC objectives and our own local health officials.”
The team reported profits of the aforementioned $70.3 million in fiscal-year 2020, $0.7 million in fiscal-year 2019, $34.1 million in fiscal-year 2018, $65.4 million in fiscal-year 2017, a record $75.0 million in fiscal-year 2016, $39.4 million in fiscal-year 2015, $25.5 million in fiscal-year 2014, a then-record $54.3 million in fiscal-year 2013 and a then-record $43.0 million in 2012.
