Credit: Bleacher Report

The Wisconsin team has money on standby in case the season doesn’t resume soon.

The Green Bay Packers are a bit of a standout among NFL teams, and I’m not talking about the cheese hats. Unlike most football teams that are owned by one or two incredibly wealthy dudes, the Packers are a publicly-owned and traded team with 361,256 shareholders owning over 5 million shares, not unlike a traditional business. Due to this unusual status, the suspension of the NFL season due to the COVID-19 pandemic has put them in a slightly different situation compared to the single-owner teams.

In lieu of funding from a single source, the Packers maintain a reserve fund provided by major shareholders. Currently this fund contains around $385 million, assembled for the express purpose of covering expenses in case income from either the league or local sources (or both, in this case) ground to a halt. According to Mark Murphy, president of the Green Bay Packers, while the team is optimistic that the NFL will start back up soon, they are prepared to utilize the reserve fund.

Credit: Dylan Buell

According to a Thursday letter sent to shareholders, Murphy said that he hopes the league will be able to resume “with full stadiums, but we are also planning for a whole range of contingencies and examining the financial ramifications.” He specifically cited the team’s “ample resources available … to weather these difficult times.”

While the team is more than prepared to use the money if necessary, it is clear they would rather the league resume. In an effort to entice fans to see the game, all season ticket holders have been sent a complementary face mask and had their membership payment deadline extended to June 1.