The Green Bay Packers reported their fourth consecutive year of record revenue. If not for the COVID-19 year of 2020, the streak would be longer.
The Packers reported $654.1 million in revenue for the 2023-24 fiscal year, which concluded at the end in March. The team reported profit from operations of $60.1 million and net income of $98.1 million. The year before, revenue was $610.3 million, profit from operations was $68.6 million and net income was $35.6 million.
"It was another strong year from a financial standpoint for the Packers. It really speaks to the popularity overall of the NFL," said Packers President and CEO Mark Murphy. The Packers released their financial results Tuesday, ahead of the
annual shareholders meeting scheduled for 3 p.m. Monday at Lambeau Field.
The Packers are the NFL's smallest-market team, its only publicly owned team, and the only one that makes its financial results public. Total revenue and profit from operations, rather than net income, are the more significant numbers in Packers' finances because all money, whether profit or not, goes into team operations or the community. Packers stock cannot be traded and does not pay dividends.
National revenue covers player costs for Packers
The team reported $402.3 million in national revenue and $251.8 million in local revenue. National revenue was up $7.5% and local revenue was 6.7% higher.
In 2023-24, national revenue exceeded player costs and is likely to do so again this year. The team did not release player costs on Tuesday, but that will be included in the annual report given to shareholders on Monday.
"That's the beauty of the system like this, knowing that your major cost is covered by national revenue," Murphy said.
National revenue is shared equally by all 32 teams and funded primarily by television and other media deals.
"The league has been strategic in terms of streaming. We've seen that with Amazon, Peacock ... and for the next couple of years, Netflix. I think 380 million people are subscribers to Netflix. One of the things the league has talked about is trying to meet people where they are," Murphy said.
On the local revenue side, the team saw growth in sponsorships and in Packers Pro Shop sales, which benefited from the team making a playoff run last season, Murphy said.
Also, the team raised season ticket prices, as they have done for many years, to stay around the league average.
Expenses were $594 million overall, a 9.7% increase, or $52.3 million, over the previous year. Team officials attributed that to the cyclical nature of player contracts and increased depreciation for construction at Lambeau Field.
"We had a handful of players; when they leave before the end of their contracts, there are some spikes in the expenses as they move on, and so we did experience that a little bit more this year than we have in previous years," said Maureen Smith, Packers chief financial officer.
Other takeaways from the 2023-24 Packers financial report
The Packers invested more than $1 billion since 2003, including more than $600 million in Lambeau Field and more than $300 million in the Titletown district, in conjunction with various partners.
The team continues to purchase land around Lambeau Field, including $7.25 million on five parcels since January. The team has not said what it will do with several of the parcels. One is used for warehouse space and two others have tenants.
"I think it's more just protecting ourselves for the future, particularly with Titletown now, the success we've had with that," Murphy said.
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The team's investments were up 413% over last year, a reflection of the better performance of stock markets during that period. The team contributed $12 million to its corporate reserve fund, which stands at $536 million, compared with $460 million last year, much of the improvement due to better market performance.
"Looking to the future, we really feel it's important to the Packers to continue to support (the corporate reserve fund). We don't have a really deep-pockets owner," Murphy said. "Economics of the league are changing pretty dramatically. you look at some of the recent sales, teams selling for $6 (billion), $6.5 billion."
The team contributed $5 million to the Packers Foundation, which brought its endowment to $55.4 million.
Murphy hopeful lease talks with city will restart
Murphy said discussion has taken place with the city of Green Bay on restarting talks on a new lease for Lambeau Field. The city suspended those talks earlier this year.
"We are hopeful we'll be able to get those started again and have some productive discussions," Murphy said.
The lease between the Packers, the city and the Green Bay/Brown County Professional Football Stadium District runs through 2033, with five two-year options for extensions. The Packers hope to reach a new agreement well in advance of the expiration so they have something in place before the collective bargaining agreement with players expires in six years and broadcast deals in nine years.
