The Green Bay Packers NFL team has written to the Green Bay/Brown County Professional Football Stadium District requesting it to step in on discussions with Mayor Eric Genrich regarding an extension to the lease agreement for Lambeau Field.
The Packers’ current lease deal at Lambeau Field expires in 2032, and the team is seeking a long-term extension to this agreement so it can press ahead with $1.5bn (£1.2bn/€1.4bn) worth of upgrades to the stadium.
The team has said these upgrades would be carried out over the next 20 to 30 years and would not require taxpayer funding. In a statement published on its website yesterday (Wednesday), the team noted that it first approached Mayor Genrich over lease discussions in 2020, with three subsequent lease proposals having been put forward since then.
According to the Packers, Genrich has not responded to any of the proposals or offered a counterproposal. In March, Packers president and chief executive Mark Murphy expressed disappointment over the City of Green Bay’s decision to walk away from negotiations over a new lease deal for Lambeau Field.
The Packers had planned on carrying out a $80m upgrade to Lambeau Field’s lower concourse ahead of the new NFL season, but this was shelved following the breakdown of talks between the team and the city.
The team fears that the cost of renovation work could grow “precipitously” the longer it has to wait to begin renovation work. The Packers noted that Genrich last month cancelled a scheduled follow-up meeting with Murphy and the team is now requesting that the Stadium District steps in.
In the letter, published on the Packers’ website, the team claims that Genrich is insisting taxpayer money be used for Lambeau Field maintenance and improvements so that some of the money would flow through to the city.
The Packers are also protesting Genrich’s desire to eliminate the Stadium District to directly control Lambeau Field. The team states that the dissolution of the Stadium District would be “counterproductive to the core reason for its creation”.
Aaron Popkey, director of public affairs for the Packers, said: “The District’s involvement is crucial to this process. The wisdom behind its creation has been on full display with these actions of the mayor.”
The Packers are seeking to develop a long-term lease proposal with the Stadium District that can be presented to the City of Green Bay.
Popkey added: “It’s a shame that we’re unable to get a meeting with him (Genrich) to discuss this crucial issue. Our plan remains feasible, but the longer the delay, the more it costs and further jeopardises our ability to engage it without requiring public subsidy.”
Genrich has not publicly responded to the Packers’ statement. Joseph Faulds, chief of operations for the city, told WBAY-TV: “We are not interested in a public debate with the Packers, other than to say the Packers are grossly mischaracterising our views and actions.
“As we stated previously, our taxpayers deserve nothing less than what they are currently entitled to under the existing lease, which has 18 years remaining and absolutely not the $30m loss the Packers propose.”
