Packers make 30,000 more shares of stock available

GREEN BAY, Wis. (AP) - Sales of Green Bay Packers stock have been so brisk since an initial offering three weeks ago that the team is making another 30,000 shares available.

The team initially offered 250,000 shares for sale starting Dec. 6. But the allotment is nearly gone, even though the shares cost $250 each and have virtually no resale value.

"The support from our fans has been outstanding, and we appreciate their enthusiasm," Mark Murphy, the team's president and CEO, said Tuesday in a statement. "We continue to receive interest in the offering, and this increase in the number of available shares will help ensure that we are able to accommodate all those who want to become shareholders."

The offering is scheduled to end Feb. 29 or when all remaining shares are sold.

The NFL's only publicly owned team is applying the proceeds toward a $143 million expansion of Lambeau Field. The Packers have said they would fund the expansion themselves and through private funding, and wouldn't ask taxpayers to contribute as owners of other teams typically do.

• Photo Gallery: Lambeau Field expansion

Selling all 280,000 shares would raise $70 million.

The shares are available at packersowner.com for $250, plus a $25 handling fee per transaction.

Buyers gain the privilege of calling themselves NFL owners, though the stock value will not go up and there are no dividends. Stockholders also get voting rights, and they can attend annual meetings where they can meet team executives and tour the Packers Hall of Fame.

The team has had four other stock offerings. Sales in 1923, 1935 and 1950 helped keep the Packers afloat at a time when other small-market teams were struggling to survive.

The most recent sale was in 1997. The team offered 400,000 shares for $200 apiece, but only about 120,000 shares were sold.