Packers' Finances the only window to the numbers behind the coming strike

[JBlood]

Whether you back the players or the owners it will be the fans who will pay for everything.




WGBA -NFL Turns its Attention to Green Bay Today

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NFL Turns its Attention to Green Bay Today

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By Don Walker of the Journal Sentinel

With the release this morning of numbers related to their financial performance last year, the Green Bay Packers will surely grab the attention of the National Football League, its players' association and millions of football fans,.
The Packers are a publicly owned franchise and are required to report to its shareholders - just like thousands of other businesses in the country - its financial performance. The franchise is unique in that it is the only NFL team that releases to the public how it fares financially each year.
Last year, the team reported a net profit of $4 million, relatively small compared with the past few years.
Today's profit number, as well as the amount of revenue the team generated in the year ending March 31, and the amount of money it gets from national television, are benchmarks that will be scrutinized by members of the players' association in the ongoing contract negotiations.
The current labor deal expires in March 2011, and that could lead to a work stoppage in 2011.
While it would be unfair to compare Green Bay, by far the smallest media market in the NFL, to other teams, the Packers will share the amount of national TV revenue it receives. That's a number every other league in the team gets.
In the leadup to this season, NFL negotiators, including Mark Murphy, president and CEO of the Packers and a former union official himself, have argued that the percentage of revenue going to players has to go down. Exactly how much is in dispute. The union says the league wants to reduce the players' share by 18%; the league disputes that.
Th union has said that the players' share of revenue cannot be negotiated unless the players have a better idea how teams perform financially. Today, the Packers will open the door a little and let the players see for themselves.
In recent years, Murphy has said that the cost of player salaries has risen faster than the Packers' ability to generate revenue. I would expect to hear the Packers make that same point again.
Andrew Brandt, a former top Packers' official who writes on the blog National Football Post, has speculated that the league might not ask for any reduction in the share of revenues in return for the union agreeing to play two extra games.
Finally, the release of these numbers also has to be seen through the prism of the existing economic conditions in the country. The recession took a toll on the entire country, including professional sports. The Packers may report that their ability to generate local revenue was down last year, compared with others years. And while the team continues to sell out its games and ticket prices are higher, other ancillary revenue may have gone down.
On July 29, the annual Packers' shareholders meeting will be held at Lambeau Field. Roger Goodell, the league's commissioner, is expected to attend and take some questions from shareholders.
Goodell, who will be touring other NFL camps this summer, is sure to be asked about the current contract situation and what he thinks of the Packers' financials.
We'll know more later today.

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[Pugger]

If the Packers had a smaller profit then other teams that have weaker franchises many of these teams may in worse shape than us. But many of these teams have owners with deep pockets where we do not.

 

[robdog]

$4 million definitely does not seem like a lot of money. But at least they did not LOSE money.

 

[ivo610]

4 million was last year and I think the year before was in the 30s. The talk among reporters was that if the commish is coming then its expected to be bad and he wants to draw attention to it by showing up and using that during negotiations.

 

[JBlood]

here are the numbers: Packers.com » News » Stories » July 14, 2010: Finances Show Profit, But Troubling Trends Remain

local revenue of ~100 million= flat; ~158 million of shared revenue= up 10%. In the last 4 years overall revenue has grown 5.5% yearly, while players' salaries are up 11.8% yearly.

Nobody knows how much local revenue the "bigs" take in which is not shared around the league.

The players will demand to know all the numbers before they will consider taking a pay cut. The owners will refuse to do so.

There will be a strike by millionaires against billionaires, while new hires at GM are being paid $12/hour and will never have enough cash to think about buying a ticket to a game.

Just another sign of the collapse of our society.

 

[ivo610]

I would love to see the numbers for the two extreme ends of the NFL, for a team like Dallas and a team like Buffalo. Dallas spends tons of money and makes tons, while buffalo does neither.

 

[NYPacker]

Does anybody know that if a lockout does occur, do the NFL players still get paid their base salaries? If so that would suck on the organizations' part. They'd lose millions of dollars to player salaries alone without any source of income. Any answers?

 

[olwig420]

Honestly if the only reason that we did not make as much money this last year is because we need to pay our rising stars the money they deserve so we can win a championship....so be it. What do I care if we did not gross a ton of cash if we can have better players.