Home » Travel » Wisconsin » The Green Bay Packers

The Green Bay Packers

© Peggy Hoehne

In Wisconsin, autumn means football and football means the Green Bay Packers. The team had its start in 1919, when Curly Lambeau and George Calhoun decided to start a football team. Lambeau's employer, the Indian Packing Company, put up money for the jerseys and provided the use of its athletic field. The team was known as the Indian Packers the first season. Indian Packing, and the team, was then bought out by Acme Packing Co. in 1921, and that year its owners had "Acme Packers" put on the jersey. Though it has been called other names (Big Bay Blues, Bays, Blues) by fans and sportswriters, Packers has been the most used name through out the teams' history. In fact, Green Bay Packers is the name in longest use in the same location by a major league football team in North America.

Earl "Curly" Lambeau, founder and first team captain, has his name preserved in history on the name of the Green Bay stadium, Lambeau Field. Only two other pro sports stadiums in North America have been in use longer than Lambeau Field, built in 1957.

Green Bay is major sports smallest TV market at 68th place, but its fan followings are certainly not among the smallest. According to a Harris Poll, the Packers have more fans than any other team in the league. If you want season tickets to a Packers game you will join a waiting list of more than 67,500 names, or about a thirty year wait. Their home games have been sold out on a season-ticket basis since 1960.

The Packers are proud of their fans, too. They initiated a Packer FAN Hall of Fame in 1998. They annually honor a devout and longtime Packer fan.

The Packers have won more NFL titles than any other team. The twelve time champions won their first three by league standing in 1929, 1930 and 1931. Since the NFL playoff system was established in 1933, they have won 9 more times, in 1936, 1939, 1944, 1961, 1962, 1965, 1966, 1967 and 1996. The Pack has had 10 playoff appearances in the last 12 years.

One of the things that make the Packers unique and popular is that they are the only pro team to have no owner. They are owned by 111,921 stockholders, who hold 4,749,925 shares. None of the stockholders receive a dividend on their initial investment and the stock cannot be sold.