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The Green Bay Packers are unlike any other NFL team. Green Bay has long been unique as the league’s only publicly-owned franchise. But a potential overhaul of federal legislation that is key to the NFL could threaten the team’s long-term survival in a small market like Green Bay.
U.S. Representative Scott Fitzgerald of Wisconsin recently led a House Judiciary subcommittee on the Sports Broadcasting Act (SBA). He suggested the NFL might be in violation of the act. Fitzgerald also criticized Green Bay’s concerns about tweaking the legislation.
The SBA, established in 1961, allows the NFL to distribute equal shares of national television contracts instead of making each team negotiate deals individually. It is a different process than other major sports leagues.
The Packers issued a press release on Tuesday, taking issue with Fitzgerald’s dismissal of the team’s concerns.
“Packers fans everywhere should be deeply concerned that Rep. Fitzgerald admitted to giving ‘zero’ consideration to keeping the Packers in Green Bay as he explores upending the 65-year-old Sports Broadcasting Act,” the statement read, per ESPN’s Rob Demovsky. “Fans should be offended that Fitzgerald then went further, saying our concerns were ‘laughable.’ What is laughable is that a congressman from Wisconsin is leading this charge. Why threaten the team his community overwhelmingly cherishes and its ability to compete on a level playing field?”
Green Bay is concerned about its ability to compete with other NFL teams in a different financial landscape. The Packers cannot sell shares in the franchise like other teams, nor do they have a billionaire owner to fund team initiatives.
“The tremendously successful model of pooling media rights and sharing revenue equally amongst teams has allowed the Packers to survive and thrive in the smallest media market in professional sports,” the statement continued. “This model is as foundational to the Packers’ existence as the very bricks in Lambeau Field. It is careless and unwise to rearrange the bricks of a foundation which has stood strong for over half a century.”
Hopefully the Packers are able to stay in Green Bay, one way or another.
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