woodbuck27
07-17-2006, 01:08 AM
Posted July 16, 2006
Locker-room tour big draw for Packers shareholders
Green Bay Packers annual meeting
By Richard Ryman
rryman@greenbaypressgazette.com
It’s a sure bet the 30,000 people  a record and then some  who requested tickets to attend the Green Bay Packers’ annual shareholders meeting Wednesday aren’t looking forward to the financial report.
A promised locker room tour rather than the singularity of the Packers’ bottom line is the draw. But in the process they’ll get something available to no other National Football League fan: A rundown on what makes their team tick, on and off the field.
While the Packers, as a publicly owned company, are required to reveal some information about their finances  more than any other professional sports team  the requirements are not onerous.
The Packers are publicly owned, but they are not publicly traded or a for-profit corporation, so they don’t fall under the purview of the Securities and Exchange Commission. They are a Wisconsin nonprofit stock corporation. State law mandates a financial report, but not in the detail the SEC would require.
It also spares them compliance with regulatory  and expensive  mandates such as the Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002, which has driven many smaller public companies, such as Nicolet National Bank’s parent, to go private.
“Wisconsin paperwork is relatively simple,†said Jason Wied, Packers’ corporate counsel.
The Packers are required to make financial information available to shareholders, but they don’t have to reveal such information as the names of the largest shareholders or salaries of their executives.
“We don’t think there is any reason (to publish salaries),†said Packers Chairman Bob Harlan.
“Iââ⠀šÂ¬Ã¢â€žÂ¢ve never gotten any kind of demand from shareholders in 35 years. We don’t even tell members of the board of directors. The executive committee does know.â€ÂÂ
Wied said team bylaws restrict individual shareholders to 200,000 shares or less out of 4.7 million outstanding. The team has more than 110,000 shareholders, some of whom are at the 200,000 limit.
Packers shares have no financial value. They don’t pay dividends and cannot be sold, though they can be transferred to direct family members. They do allow shareholders to vote on the team’s directors and other business that might come before them.
Wied said the team’s corporate structure, in place since 1923, has provided the team with stability other franchises have not had.
“Our shareholders, directors and officers are not entitled to share in any of our profits,†Wied said. “Why would Packers management have any motivation other than to make the right decision?â€ÂÂ
The organization is required to reinvest its profits in the company or give them to charity.
When the Packers decide to sell stock, a rare occurrence, they do not need the permission of the state or the SEC. The NFL does have to approve, however.
Congress passed Sarbanes-Oxley in 2002 to improve corporate transparency and accountability. Wied said the Packers did an informal review of their corporate governance, in place before 2002, to see how they stacked up.
“We found we were pretty consistent with the spirit of Sarbanes-Oxley,†he said.
Wied said the organization has from 120 to 150 core administrative staff, about normal for the NFL. Most are from the community.
“People who work here are tied to this community or have connections to the Packers,†he said.
None of this will be of priority interest Tuesday and Wednesday, when shareholders and friends get the opportunity to stand next to Brett Favre’s locker.
Harlan has made it a point to provide shareholders with a little something extra for the past three shareholder meetings, with increasing interest and attendance for each.
Last year, more than 12,000 turned out, drawn by admission to a rookie workout after the meeting. Only 9,000 were able to get into the meeting itself, in the Resch Center, an unacceptable circumstance in Harlan’s view. Thus the move to Lambeau Field this year.
Locker-room tour big draw for Packers shareholders
Green Bay Packers annual meeting
By Richard Ryman
rryman@greenbaypressgazette.com
It’s a sure bet the 30,000 people  a record and then some  who requested tickets to attend the Green Bay Packers’ annual shareholders meeting Wednesday aren’t looking forward to the financial report.
A promised locker room tour rather than the singularity of the Packers’ bottom line is the draw. But in the process they’ll get something available to no other National Football League fan: A rundown on what makes their team tick, on and off the field.
While the Packers, as a publicly owned company, are required to reveal some information about their finances  more than any other professional sports team  the requirements are not onerous.
The Packers are publicly owned, but they are not publicly traded or a for-profit corporation, so they don’t fall under the purview of the Securities and Exchange Commission. They are a Wisconsin nonprofit stock corporation. State law mandates a financial report, but not in the detail the SEC would require.
It also spares them compliance with regulatory  and expensive  mandates such as the Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002, which has driven many smaller public companies, such as Nicolet National Bank’s parent, to go private.
“Wisconsin paperwork is relatively simple,†said Jason Wied, Packers’ corporate counsel.
The Packers are required to make financial information available to shareholders, but they don’t have to reveal such information as the names of the largest shareholders or salaries of their executives.
“We don’t think there is any reason (to publish salaries),†said Packers Chairman Bob Harlan.
“Iââ⠀šÂ¬Ã¢â€žÂ¢ve never gotten any kind of demand from shareholders in 35 years. We don’t even tell members of the board of directors. The executive committee does know.â€ÂÂ
Wied said team bylaws restrict individual shareholders to 200,000 shares or less out of 4.7 million outstanding. The team has more than 110,000 shareholders, some of whom are at the 200,000 limit.
Packers shares have no financial value. They don’t pay dividends and cannot be sold, though they can be transferred to direct family members. They do allow shareholders to vote on the team’s directors and other business that might come before them.
Wied said the team’s corporate structure, in place since 1923, has provided the team with stability other franchises have not had.
“Our shareholders, directors and officers are not entitled to share in any of our profits,†Wied said. “Why would Packers management have any motivation other than to make the right decision?â€ÂÂ
The organization is required to reinvest its profits in the company or give them to charity.
When the Packers decide to sell stock, a rare occurrence, they do not need the permission of the state or the SEC. The NFL does have to approve, however.
Congress passed Sarbanes-Oxley in 2002 to improve corporate transparency and accountability. Wied said the Packers did an informal review of their corporate governance, in place before 2002, to see how they stacked up.
“We found we were pretty consistent with the spirit of Sarbanes-Oxley,†he said.
Wied said the organization has from 120 to 150 core administrative staff, about normal for the NFL. Most are from the community.
“People who work here are tied to this community or have connections to the Packers,†he said.
None of this will be of priority interest Tuesday and Wednesday, when shareholders and friends get the opportunity to stand next to Brett Favre’s locker.
Harlan has made it a point to provide shareholders with a little something extra for the past three shareholder meetings, with increasing interest and attendance for each.
Last year, more than 12,000 turned out, drawn by admission to a rookie workout after the meeting. Only 9,000 were able to get into the meeting itself, in the Resch Center, an unacceptable circumstance in Harlan’s view. Thus the move to Lambeau Field this year.