Founding Year and Original Formation
The Green Bay Packers were founded in 1919 as a semi-professional team organized by Curly Lambeau and George Calhoun, with early support from the Indian Packing Company, which supplied uniforms and helped finance the squad. The franchise joined the American Professional Football Association in 1921, which later became the National Football League, and the team is recognized as the third-oldest franchise in the league, behind only the Arizona Cardinals and Chicago Bears Forbes.
Corporate Ownership and Public Structure
The Packers are the only publicly owned franchise in the NFL, structured as a nonprofit corporation under Wisconsin law, with more than 530,000 stockholders as of the most recent share registry updates, and no individual is permitted to hold a controlling interest or profit from resale SEC.
Stock Sales and Capital Raises
The team has conducted multiple stock sales to fund stadium renovations, including Lambeau Field upgrades, with the most recent offering in 2021 generating over $64 million in gross proceeds and adding new shares to the existing pool of more than 5.1 million outstanding shares Forbes.
Key Milestones and Modern Era
Since their founding, the Packers have won 13 league championships, including four Super Bowl titles in 1966, 1967, 1996, and 2010, and they remain one of the most valuable NFL franchises, with Forbes estimating the team's enterprise value at roughly $5.6 billion in 2024 Forbes.
Stadium and Community Impact
Lambeau Field, the team's home since 1957, has undergone multiple expansion phases, most recently completed in 2013, increasing capacity to approximately 81,441 seats, and the stadium district supports thousands of local jobs and generates significant tax revenue for the city and Brown County Packers.com.