Packers profit...sorta

As all true Packers fans know, the team is the only publicly-held team in the NFL. So, in anticipation of its upcoming shareholders' meeting at Lambeau Field (where else?) in Green Bay on July 29, the Packers today released their financial statement highlights for the last fiscal year. The good news, somewhat, is that net profit went up from about $4 million last year to $5.2 million this year. But the bad news is that profit from operations dropped big time: from $20.1 million last year to $9.8 million this year. This continues a trend of several years of declining operations profits for the Pack.

According to an article just hitting the airwaves (question: is the Internet "the airwaves"??? Hmmm....) in the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, Packers President and CEO Mark Murphy said, “Player costs are growing at twice the rate of revenue.” For the record, player costs were up 11 percent while revenue only increased 5.5 percent.

The Packers might be viewed by some -- especially team owners and management -- as the canary in the coal mine, particularly with negotiations ahead for owners and the NFL Players Association. Management may use Packers' financials -- albeit the only team that makes its books public and the smallest market team at that -- as part of its case for reducing the players' portion of the overall take that comes in to the NFL.

Be sure to check out the article link above for more on this developing story.