If you walk into a sports bar and ask who owns the Dallas Cowboys, everyone knows the answer is Jerry Jones. Ask about the New England Patriots, and they'll point to Robert Kraft. But if you ask who is the owner of Green Bay Packers, you’re going to get a much weirder, much cooler answer.
Basically, there isn't one. Or rather, there are over half a million of them.
The Green Bay Packers are the only major professional sports team in the United States that doesn't have a billionaire calling the shots from a private box. They aren't owned by a hedge fund or a Middle Eastern investment group. Instead, they are a publicly held, non-profit corporation.
Honestly, it’s a miracle this structure still exists in 2026.
The 538,000 People Who Actually Own the Team
As of the latest counts heading into 2026, there are approximately 538,967 stockholders who collectively own more than 5.2 million shares of the team.
You’ve probably seen the framed certificates on the walls of Wisconsin basements. To a casual observer, it looks like a novelty gift. But legally, those fans are the owners. They have the right to vote on the board of directors and attend the annual meeting at Lambeau Field.
But there’s a catch.
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Owning "stock" in the Packers is nothing like owning shares in Apple or Amazon. You can’t sell your shares for a profit. You don’t get dividends. If the team’s value sky-rockets to $7 billion, your bank account doesn't move a cent. In the eyes of the SEC, it’s barely even stock—it’s more like a lifetime membership to the world’s most intense fan club.
The team's bylaws are specifically designed to keep it this way. No single person is allowed to own more than 200,000 shares. This prevents some local mogul from slowly buying up the team and moving them to a bigger market like London or Mexico City.
How the "Green Bay Rule" Protects the Fans
You might wonder why other teams don't just copy this model. Well, they can't. The NFL actually hates this setup.
The league currently has a rule stating that every team must be owned by a single person or a small group of no more than 32 people. One of those people has to hold at least a 30% stake in the team. The Packers are only allowed to exist as they do because they were "grandfathered" in.
The team was incorporated as a non-profit back in 1923. Back then, they were basically broke. They sold shares for $5 apiece just to keep the lights on and buy jerseys. When the NFL later tightened its ownership rules, they couldn't exactly kick out one of their most successful franchises for being too "community-focused."
So, they created what’s informally known as the Green Bay Rule, which essentially says: "Nobody else can do this, but the Packers get a pass because they were here first."
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Who Actually Runs the Show?
If half a million people are the owners, who signs the checks? Who decides if the coach gets fired?
The day-to-day operations are handled by a seven-member Executive Committee. This group is elected from a much larger Board of Directors.
The Transition to Ed Policy
For a long time, Mark Murphy was the face of the front office. However, the Packers have a strict mandatory retirement age of 70 for their board members. In 2025, Murphy reached that limit, leading to the unanimous election of Edward Policy as the new President and CEO.
Policy officially took the reins at the 2025 Annual Meeting. He’s the guy who represents the team at league meetings, standing in the same room as the billionaires who own the other 31 teams.
- President/CEO: Ed Policy
- The Board: 45 members (mostly local business leaders)
- The Shareholders: 538,000+ fans
Why "Worthless" Stock is Actually a Genius Business Move
Critics often call Packers stock a "scam" because it has no financial value.
That’s a bit cynical.
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Think about it: when the Packers need to upgrade Lambeau Field—like adding those massive new 4K video boards or expanding the concourse—they don't have to beg the city for a tax hike like most teams do. They just hold a stock sale.
Fans voluntarily fork over $300 a share to help their team, knowing they’ll never see that money again. It’s an "opt-in" tax. In the 2021-2022 sale alone, they raised roughly **$65 million**.
It’s the ultimate competitive advantage. While other teams are fighting with local governments over stadium funding, the Packers just ask their owners for help, and the owners say "yes" every single time.
Can You Buy Shares Right Now?
Usually, the answer is no.
The Packers don't sell stock year-round. They’ve only had six stock offerings in their entire 100-plus year history:
- 1923: To save the team from folding.
- 1935: To get out of receivership.
- 1950: To stay solvent.
- 1997: To fund the Lambeau Field redevelopment.
- 2011: To add 6,700 seats to the South End Zone.
- 2021: To upgrade video boards and concourses.
If you want to become an owner, you basically have to wait for the team to announce a new project that requires a few dozen million dollars. Or, you can hope a relative leaves their shares to you in a will. Transfers are strictly limited to "immediate family."
Actionable Insights for Fans and Investors
If you're looking into the ownership structure of the Green Bay Packers, here are the realities you need to navigate:
- Don't look for a ticker symbol. You won't find the Packers on the New York Stock Exchange. There is no "PACK" stock to trade on Robinhood.
- Watch the news for "Capital Improvements." The team only sells stock when they have a specific construction project in mind. If you see headlines about a massive Lambeau expansion, a stock sale is likely coming.
- Understand the legal limits. Even if a sale opens up, you can't buy 50% of the team. The 200,000-share cap is ironclad.
- Check the annual report. Because they are a public corporation, the Packers are the only NFL team that has to release their financial balance sheet every year. If you're a sports business nerd, it’s the best way to see how an NFL team actually makes and spends money.
The Green Bay Packers remain a total anomaly in the world of high-stakes sports. They prove that a small-town team can not only survive but thrive by treating its fans as the ultimate stakeholders. They don't have an owner; they have a community. And in the modern era of sports, that might be the most valuable thing of all.