National Football League (NFL) franchise the Green Bay Packers have raised $65.8 million in their sixth-ever stock offering, adding 176,160 new shareholders in the process.
More than 198,000 shares in the team were sold at $300 apiece during the offering, which started on 16th November.
The Packers, who had been looking to raise as much as $90 million from the share offering, said the net proceeds will be spent on ongoing construction projects at Lambeau Field, including new video boards and concourse upgrades.
Fans in the team’s home state of Wisconsin accounted for approximately 17 per cent of the share purchases, with eight per cent coming from California, five per cent each from Texas and Illinois, four per cent from Florida and three per cent from New York. Canadians purchased approximately 3,500 shares
The Packers’ public ownership structure is unique to the NFL, meaning they are the only team in the league that reports its finances, the most recent of which showed revenue of $371.1 million. The model also means that the NFL allows the Packers to sell more shares to raise funds given that they cannot turn to a sole billionaire owner.
The Packers’ last stock offering in 2011 raised $67.4 million from the sale of 250,000 shares. The other four share issues in the team’s history took place in 1923, 1935, 1950 and 1997.
