Green Bay Packers and Their Effect on Business in Green Bay, Wisconsin - Research Paper Example

Green Bay Packers and their effect on business in Green Bay, Wisconsin 08 November  Green Bay Packers and their effect on business in Green Bay, Wisconsin 1 Logo Curly Lambeau George Calhoun Green Bay Packers is one of the oldest and prominent football teams in America. It is based in Green Bay, Wisconsin. It was founded in 1919 by Curly Lambeau and George Calhoun. “On Aug. 11, 1919, a score or more husky young athletes, called together by Curly Lambeau and George Calhoun, gathered in the dingy editorial room of the old Green Bay Press-Gazette building on Cherry Street and organized a football team”2. Green Bay Packers has joined American Professional Football Association in 1921. During the last 93 years of history, Green bay packers have undergone many ups and downs. However, it was successful in winning thirteen league championships in America. It is a record in America as no other professional football team in America was able to come closer to this record yet. The ownerships and management of this famous football club changed time to time during the last 93 years of history. In 1923, Andrew B. Turnbull was elected as the first president of Green Bay Football Corporation. Mark Murphy is the current president and chief executive officer of Packers. Plenty of famous players played for Packers in the past. In the list of Pro Football Hall of Fame in Canton, Ohio, 21 packers’ players have been included so far. Some of the recent players included in that list were Henry Jordan (1995), James Lofton (2003), and Reggie White (2006). The current player, Rodgers is voted as NFL’s Most Valuable Player by The Associated Press in 2012. “The NFL is one of America’s biggest brands. It is the most popular of all professional sports in the US. It is a $9 billion annual business”3. Business interests are motivating most of the football clubs in the world at present and Green Bay Packers is definitely an exception. It is a not for profit organization and considered as a community asset in Wisconsin. Nobody can change its location from Wisconsin because of the provisions in its constitution. It should be noted that England Football clubs such as Manchester United, Arsenal, Spanish Football club, FC Barcelona, Germany’s Bayern Munich etc are some of the professional football clubs in the Europe, which have commercial interests. The owners of these football clubs are billionaires who are more interested in business rather than sports. The performances of these football clubs affect the business positively or negatively. For example, “Manchester United has reported a 3.3% fall in revenue to £320.3m ($520m) for the year to 30 June, after its early elimination from the Champions League last season”4. Same way the performances of Packers affects business in Green Bay, Wisconsin positively and negatively. When packers win matches regularly, business in Wisconsin increases. On the other hand, when Packers loses matches regularly, business in Wisconsin faces problems. This paper analyses how the wins and losses of Packers affect business in Green Bay, Wisconsin. Effects of Green Bay Packers on business in Green Bay, Wisconsin “The Packers led the NFL in apparel sales last year—the top two selling jerseys in the league were Packers Aaron Rodgers and Clay Matthews—making $27 million just through the pro shop inside Lambeau Field and the site Packers.com”5. National football league of NFL is the most popular game show in America. Prominent NFL players are big celebrities in America. Packers Aaron Rodgers and Clay Matthews are some of the prominent NFL players in America at present. It should be noted that iconic players always wear jersey of a particular kind. For example, Football legends Maradona and Lionel Messi are interested in number 10 jerseys. FC Barcelona number 10 jersey is one of the most favorite items for the football crazy people all over the world. Same way, the jerseys of packers’ players are bringing huge revenue to the club. Even though Packers plays in by far the smallest of the league’s 32 cities, the endless sellouts of jerseys, made the them the 11th-highest-revenue team in the NFL in 2011, with total income of over $280 million, despite the fact that it plays in by far the smallest of the league’s 32 cities6. Ticket prices, parking fees, stadium-naming rights etc are some other revenue sources of Parkers. Packers’ players are not players, but commodities for the club management. They know very well that they can make money through the introduction of products that the market will bear in the name of players. Since the right for fixing the prices of the tickets of the matches which involve Packers, is in the hand of club management, they fix any feasible price based on the popularity of the club and its players. “Even after a 9 percent bump this Super Bowl championship year, the highest-priced ticket is $83, lower than all but two other franchises”7. Wisconsin is a small city in America and its main revenue source is Green Bay Packers. Majority of the businesses in this city is associated with the businesses of packers in one way or another. It is difficult for the Packers owners to shift their business from Wisconsin to any other cities in America because of a provision in Packers’ operational rules which says that the “shareholders are entitled to no profits or dividends and cannot sell, assign, or transfer a share to a third party. In other words, Packers shares are permanently worthless”8. Wisconsin people believe that Packers is important in their long term well-being. This is because of the fact that the direct economic benefits to Green Bay from Packers are around $ 60 million a year and the indirect benefits are almost impossible to measure9. Because of the huge popularity of Packers in America, many of the prominent companies are establishing business relationships with Packers. Moreover, many of the matches of Packers are sponsored by prominent companies. For example, The Oneida Tribe of Indians of Wisconsin has recently signed a sponsorship agreement with Green Bay Packers. “As a part of this agreement, the Oneida Nation and its attractions are represented in more than 35 locations inside the stadium, in addition to the east gate entrance, providing exposure to more than 70,000 fans during each game”10. Having a game on home ground is a dream for every team. It should be noted that many countries are competing for hosting Olympic Games. The primary factor which motivates the host countries of the Olympic is the chances of economic development. Same way, home games always provide lot of incentives not only to the club but also to the community in which the club is located. For example, Saz catering is one of the prominent caterers in Wisconsin. Home games of Packers help Saz to boost their revenue immensely. According to Jim Kasper, the Sales and Marketing Director for Saz, “any home playoff games provides more opportunity for Saz’s to make money. “It is a business to take people up and be a part of that — everything from hotels to restaurants. You don’t get that extra home game, that playoff game, it does affect you,” Kasper said11. One of the major negative effects of packers on business is the unpredictability of loss and profit. The loss and profit of sports related business always related to the performances of the team and its players. Individual performances may not matter much in team games. In other words, even if one or two players perform well, the team may lose the match because of the poor performances of others. In such cases, the value of the players who shown outstanding performance may increase and the popularity of the team diminish. For example, packers went almost undefeated last season. However, they filed to repeat the same show in this season even though the same players played for them. The poor show of the team may affect the businesses associated with Packers. “When you have a brand that has huge consumer acceptance and evangelizing fans, protecting the brand and meeting consumer expectations is much more important than financial considerations”12. In the case of sport related businesses, fans are the major capital rather than money. So, every aspect of business related sports activities should cater the needs of the public. Public will never tolerate anything which go against their interests. They wanted to enjoy matches. They wanted to see their teams winning. Loss is unbearable to the crazy fans. For example, English football crazy fans often create violent scenes in and outside the stadium when their team loses. Same thing is applicable to Packers also. Fans of Packers always want their team to win. Even a single loss may not be tolerable to them. So, it is the duty of the club management to avail the services of outstanding players to their team all the time. This is not an easy task as competition is immense in sports circles compared to other business circles. The last time the Packers went to the Super Bowl, businesses and factories throughout the state of Wisconsin shut down. The business owners knew that absenteeism after a Packers Super Bowl would be astronomical. For Packers fans in Wisconsin who work second shift, vacation time is allocated to whenever the Packers play on Monday Night Football. And for first shift workers, the day after Monday Night Football is requested as a vacation day13. The NFL crazy fans in America are not much interested in go for work when their teams take part in any of the matches. Majority the factories and shops in Wisconsin area will remain closed whenever Packers take part in a match. Thus, business people in Wisconsin are facing problems in finishing their works in time. In short, a substantial portion of the productive hours is losing by the organizations in Wisconsin because of the matches of Packers with other clubs. Moreover, organizations forced to reschedule the works during Packers’ matches to cater the needs of crazy fans. It should be noted that even after matches, employees often discuss the performances of the players and the results during office hours. Moreover, lot of discussions will take place at the workplace prior to the matches to analyze the possibilities of packers in coming matches in short, few days before and few days after the Packers’ matches are unproductive to business groups in Wisconsin. “Green Bay Packers, with more than 364,000 stockholders, stand alone as the only professional sports franchise owned by fans, thus providing the only public record of how a sports team is run”14. Unlike many of the professional football clubs in Europe, Green bay Packers is actually owned by the fans; not by the individuals. For example, manchestor United is owned by Malcolm Glazer whereas Roman Abromovich is the owner of Chelsea. So, the success and failures of these clubs affect these people alone. But in the case of Packers, the success and failures of Packers in major tournaments may affect majority of the people in Wisconsin. For people outside Wisconsin, Packers is only a sports club whereas for people inside Wisconsin, Packers is not only a football club, but also a revenue source. Conclusions If NFL is the most popular sports event in America, Green Bay Packers is the most popular NFL team in America. Even though located in a small town Green Bay in Wisconsin, the popularity of Packers in America is more than any other NFL teams in America. Packers was established in 1919 and it joined NFL in 1921. Since then, it has won thirteen major titles in professional football championships in America. One of the unique characteristics of Packers is its ownership. Packers is owned by the people of Green Bay. It cannot be moved away from Green Bay even if outsiders purchase it. Plenty of businesses in Wisconsin are relying heavily on the popularity, success, and failures of Packers in major tournaments. The matches involved by Packers are celebrated as local events in Wisconsin. The industries in Wisconsin cannot function properly, few days before and after the matches involved by Packers. Since Packers is instrumental in controlling the revenue of Wisconsin, directly and indirectly, it is necessary for the Wisconsin people to increase the popularity of this club as much as possible. Bibliography Alesch, Daniel J. The Green Bay Packers. Policy research institute report. Volume 8 November 1995. BBC News.18 September 2012. Manchester Uniteds revenue falls to £320m. [Online] Available at: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-19639130 [Accessed 8 November 2012] Greenfeld, Karl Taro. 2011. The Green Bay Packers Have the Best Owners in Football. Business week. October 20, 2011 Green Bay Packers: Trials, Triumphs, and Tradition. [Online] Available at: http://www.wisconsinhistory.org/whspress/books/book.asp?book_id=392[Accessed 8 November 2012] Moen-Kadlec, Jacqueline. 2011. Green Bay Packers to Super Bowl: Wisconsin Braces for February 6 Hysteria. [Online] Available at: http://bleacherreport.com/articles/582446-green-bay-packers-in-the-super-bowl-wisconsin-may-shut-down-on-february-6[Accessed 8 November 2012] Oneida renews sponsorship of Green Bay Packers. 2012. The Business Journal. October 29, 2012 Packers. Birth of a Team and a Legend. 2012. [Online] Available at: http://www.packers.com/history/birth-of-a-team-and-a-legend.html [Accessed 8 November 2012] Taylor, Beverly. 2012. Controversial call may have negative economic impact in Wisconsin. [Online] Available at: http://fox6now.com/2012/09/26/controversial-call-may-have-negative-economic-impact-in-wisconsin/[Accessed 8 November 2012] Ventura & Co. 2012. [Online] Available at: http://www.ventura-company.com/tag/green-bay- packers/[Accessed 8 November 2012] Read More