The Cheese Stands Alone

Live from my living room last night during Sunday Night Football:

“Packers fans are crazy, right?” 

“Yeah, people who live in Green Bay own a piece of the team.”

Exxxxxxcccccuuuuuuseeee me what

Did you guys know that? I didn’t know that. So I fact-checked it immediately, and now I can't think about anything else.

 Sure enough, the Green Bay Packers are the only publicly-owned, not-for-profit, professional team in the United States. That means, instead of having 1-2 mega-rich and powerful owners like every other NFL team, the Packers are owned by hundreds of thousands of fans, the people of Green Bay.

How does that even happen?

Well, I'm glad you asked because in 1923, the team was closing in on bankruptcy. Running out of options, the team was about to go under and cease to exist.

In a last ditch effort, they sold all the shares to the people of Green Bay for $5 a piece in order to keep the lights on. They still own the Green Bay Packers to this day.

You can read even more about Green Bay history here if you’re into that sort of thing.

Now, this is already one of my favorite recent stories in sports and here’s where it gets better:

This isn’t a regular stock. This is a cool (?) stock. There’s no profiting off shares. No lucky Green Bay fan will get rich off the team’s next Super Bowl win because the stock pays no dividends and owners can’t trade or sell.

 The only perks to owning any Packers stock is a commemorative certificate, access to special merchandise and getting to go to a shareholders' meeting during the team’s training camp.

 But don’t worry. Nobody at those meetings gets to make any decisions that impact the team, football or otherwise... I swear I cannot make this up.

 These folks aren't being hoodwinked though, despite what it may sound like. They know it’s nothing more than a piece of paper.

So, like..... what is the point?

What do the Green Bay faithful say their favorite perk of being a partial owner is? The pride they have in saying that they are one.

I think there’s a message about you and me doing business somewhere in there.

Maybe it’s how to care deeply when there’s seemingly nothing in it for you.

Or how to feel pride towards a mission, win or lose, even if (ESPECIALLY IF) you weren’t the one making the decisions.

Is anyone else freaking inspired to build a culture where every team members feels like an integral part of that mission? 

It's hard to imagine how good it must feel to walk the streets of Green Bay and see a fellow local with a Packers hat on.

Like, me and him? Yeah, we're going to the same place. We may not love all the same things, but we love 1 thing that's the same. We're on a mission and this is our home.

 Did I just become a cheese head? Am I Green Bay Packers fan?

It’s too soon to tell, but I’ll never forget what makes them special next time I see a Packers jersey in the airport. And I will talk about this to anyone who will listen at Christmas this year.

 Go Pack go. (Is that right? Help.)

Xo, The Salesgirls