The new atrium at Lambeau Field.
Image courtesy: Hammes Co.

Kevin N. Kovalycsik, Visiting 
Assistant Professor at The Center 
for Sport Management, Seton Hall 
University, investigates the quite 
unique way in how the new 
Lambeau Field came into being.

t was the spring of 1999. Green Bay Packers President, Bob Harlan, along with Executive Vice-President and Chief Operating Officer, John Jones, were attending the annual National Football League (NFL) Meetings, to hear Commissioner Paul Tagliabue deliver a report on new stadium construction. Commissioner Tagliabue told NFL Executives that: “If they did not have a new stadium or renovation project on the drawing board by year’s end, their team would become ‘a non-factor’,” said Jones. “Mr. Harlan and I looked at each other, and from that point forward, committed our organisation to a dramatic plan for a ‘new’ Lambeau Field.”

Opened in 1957, Lambeau Field is the longest, continuously-occupied, stadium in the NFL. Consequently, it had seen numerous smaller-scale changes throughout the years, including seven prior seating expansions and the addition of private boxes. 

However, as new stadiums rose throughout the NFL in the 1990s, Lambeau Field became outdated. In all of American sport, only Major League Baseball’s (MLB’s) Fenway Park and Wrigley Field, homes of the Boston Red Sox and Chicago Cubs respectively, have longer active home field tenures at 92 and 90 seasons. 

As one of only a few publicly-owned sports teams in the United States, the Packers must generate a significant amount of income from their facility to remain competitive. Challenges with capacity, as well as the need for updated private boxes, plus more club seats, restrooms and concessions, made a new facility a necessity.
   

“It’s a matter of pride that the Packers are publicly owned and the smallest market team in professional sports,” related Jones. “An unchecked decline in revenue would have inevitably made the Packers uncompetitive in the ledger books and on the field.” 

Meeting the Challenges

The financial target of the Packers to survive into the year 2000 and beyond, was established at no less than 12th (or the average second quartile) among all other NFL teams. But as new facilities opened throughout the league in the late 1990s, such financial status was no longer feasible. 

“We went from winning the Super Bowl to being ninth in the league...to fifteenth...to sixteenth...to twentieth,” recalled Jones. “Because we are publicly-owned, our revenues are required to remain positive. However, with such dramatic revenue declines, despite the on-field success of the team in the 1990s, we were at a point where we projected that we would soon be in a position where we could no longer compete.”

Faced with these challenges, Harlan and Jones went to work. However, there was great uncertainty. The construction of new stadiums was the NFL trend in the 1990s — ‘out with the old and in with the new’ — but Lambeau Field is different.
   

Above: The finished product — aerial shot of the new Lambeau Field.

Below: Visualisation — Rendered image of how the new Lambeau Field was envisaged.
Images courtesy: Ellerbe Becket

Below: Aerial shot of the magnificent new Lambeau Field.
Image courtesy: Hammes Co.

“Lambeau Field is the ‘Yankees Stadium of the NFL’,” said B.J. Van Vreede, Business Development Manager for Ellerbe Becket, and who is a lifetime Packers fan. “If it were to fade and go away, the NFL, with all of American sport, would be in a sad dilemma.” 

Fans come up Trumps

So, like a politician at the pulse of the electorate, Packer executives went directly to the people. “We went directly to our fans,” recalled Jones. “Who overwhelmingly asked us to save Lambeau Field, and save Lambeau Field, whilst creating dynamic and viable streams of revenue to sustain the long-term financial needs of the team.”

In the summer of 1999, a team was assembled to protect the 80-year history and tradition of the Green Bay Packers, whilst simultaneously assuring the club’s continued viability. The team included: Ellerbe Becket of Kansas City; Economic Research Associates of Los Angeles; Jack Rouse Associates of Cincinnati and Hammes Corporation of Madison, WI.
“The challenge was to build a facility that met the physical needs of players, fans and staff, whilst providing the franchise with a broader revenue stream into the short and long-term future,” said Robert Dunn, a partner with the Hammes Company and boyhood Packers fan.
  

Revenue Generator

Although the Packers sell-out all of their home games, the NFL’s revenue sharing plan is such that the gate receipts are shared between the home and visiting team. Due to the fact that the Packers have the smallest market of any team in the NFL, traditional sources of local revenue, including media and sponsorship dollars, are constrained. Therefore, it was essential to craft a plan that would literally ‘re-develop’ Lambeau Field from a game-day revenue generator, to a year-round revenue generator.

“The key to long-term survival in the NFL, or any other league in American sport for that matter, is capturing new sources of local revenue,” said Jones. “Rather than start the project from a management point of view — from a perspective of ‘how to operate the team’ — our team began from a business perspective — how can the space we create drive sales and excitement for the Green Bay Packers inside and outside of the facility, home and away, 365 days a year? 
  

A plan was therefore crafted that utilised the basic ‘footprint, or bowl of Lambeau Field, to leverage the team’s investment in its football stadium and provide an additional source of revenue.

The result, unveiled in January 2000, was like no other in the NFL. It called for the construction of a large public atrium space between the stadium and what was originally conceived as an administration building, giving Lambeau Field an ‘enclosed’, publicly accessible environment, that could be used throughout the year on non-game days, as well as game days. Additional event space was also envisioned for banquet, retail, food and entertainment venues. Lastly, the Packers’ Hall of Fame, which was previously sited in an unidentifiable building one block from Lambeau Field, was designed into the newly renovated facility.

“All I thought was ‘Wow!’” said Ted Eisenreich, Director of Facility Operations for Lambeau Field. “If it could be done anywhere, it would be Green Bay, because our fans are so loyal, passionate and considerate of the team and its venue. We set out to preserve history and tradition, to save and update a hallmark in American sport. The task was daunting.”

All things possible, the plan ultimately won the approval of voters in September 2000, with the hard work of people committed to preserving professional sports’ most unique franchise.

“Fans overwhelmingly asked to save Lambeau Field,” said Harlan. “The plan accomplished that whilst giving the Packers an economic base to build the future in Green Bay. We wanted this to be the No. 1 destination in Wisconsin. We were determined to build a stadium that the rest of the NFL wished it had.” 
  

Mission Accomplished! 

On Sunday, September 7, 2003, in front of a sell-out crowd, a newly renovated Lambeau Field was formally dedicated. 

“Awe-inspiring!” said BJ Van Vreede of Ellerbe Becket. “Sitting inside the bowl, you are in Lambeau Field, the same field of the Ice Bowl, the same grounds walked by Coach Lombardi and dozens of NFL 'Hall of Famers'. The adjoining atrium celebrates that past in meaningful ways, yet still gives the fans, team and community a place to eat, shop and enjoy being at Lambeau Field on any day of the year. The space is spectacular."

Old Meets the New

The newly renovated Lambeau Field is the only true retro-look stadium in the NFL. The tradition and history of the Packers is carried forward in the “like-new” Lambeau Field with its heart — the original seating bowl — being saved. 

“Lambeau Field is an icon of American sport,” said Brad Clark, Design Architect and Principal for Ellerbe Becket, the architects of the renovation. “Our greatest challenge was to preserve and blend the archaeology of the old structure with the amenities and revenue sources of more modern NFL facilities.”
  

The new retro-look Lambeau Field certainly ‘wows’ the fans.

It’s lights, camera, action at Lambeau Field.

View from the indoor club seats.
Images courtesy: Ellerbe Becket

Exactly 11,625 additional seats were added, including approximately 6,000 more bowl seats, to increase the overall capacity of Lambeau Field to 72,515. The block of new seats helped the Packers to remove almost 1,500 names from their season ticket waiting list of 60,000 strong. Additionally, surrounding residents in Brown County who were without season tickets, were given the chance to purchase the remaining 4,000 new bowl tickets on a game-to-game basis. Disabled-accessible seats also increased dramatically through the development project, rising from 56 to 733.

“The main concourse, previously so narrow in parts that it had become an issue of public safety, was expanded significantly,” continued Clark. “A new upper concourse, complete with concession stands and restrooms, also improved the ease with which fans can move through the facility.”

Optimising the Facilities

Concession points-of-sale increased to 281 on the main and upper concourses alone, up from 186. Availability of women’s restrooms, far below meeting the needs of female fans in the old stadium, rose from 180 to 556 total, whilst the men’s restrooms increased to 708 from 436.

Other benefits realised through the redevelopment project include two new scoreboards developed by Daktronics, Inc., measuring 41 feet high and 162 feet wide, which were installed in the north and south end zones. Both feature full-colour LED video displays of 27 feet high by 48 feet wide, in addition to scoring, statistical and general information panels. 
“A modern system of field lights that is more than eight times brighter than the previous stadium lights, a new visiting team locker room, and a larger, more comfortable and modern press box, accommodating more than 250 media members was also added,” said Eisenreich.

Including the recently-completed project, eight seating additions have increased capacity from its original 32,150 to 38,669 in 1961, to 42,327 in 1963, to 50,852 in 1965 and to 56,263 in 1970. During the 2002 season, with work ongoing, capacity fluctuated between 65,290 and 66,110. 

Construction of 72 initial private boxes in 1985 moved capacity to 56,926, and a 1990 addition of 36 boxes and 1,920 theatre-style club seats, increased the number further to 59,543. The seventh seating addition, a $4.7M project in 1995, put 90 more private boxes in the previously open north end zone, for the first time giving the stadium the feel of a ‘complete’ bowl and upping capacity to 60,890. The new construction reduced the number of boxes from 190 to 167 in favour of adding additional club seats. 
  

The Atrium

The centrepiece of the redeveloped stadium and ‘key’ to making it a true year-round destination venue, is the Lambeau Field Atrium, a 366,000-square-foot, five-plus-storey structure, on the east side of the facility. 

The spectacular 
Atrium and Plaza 
at Lambeau Field 
has gained much 
acclaim.

Image courtesy: Ellerbe Becket

The experience of this sports architecture wonder begins outside. Walking up to the atrium, one comes face to face with Packers history — two bronze statues, the first being of team-founder, Curly Lambeau, the other of legendary Packers Head Coach, Vince Lombardi. Sculpted at a cost of more than $400,000 each, the statues stand fourteen-feet-tall, atop three feet of steps and a four-foot base. Close by the statues are several park benches, making the plaza area a great place to sit and admire the majesty of the facility.

Passing the monuments, one stares forward at an inviting glass wall, measuring over 180 feet long and 80 feet high which welcomes fans into the Lambeau Atrium. Miller Brewing Company, through a sponsorship agreement consummated in July 2002, is a partner with the Packers in the development of the Atrium and is the sponsor of the area’s main entrance gate.

Walking into the atrium, where does one begin? A new Packers Hall of Fame, corporate meeting or event facilities for 25 to 1,200 people, seven different eating options, highlighted by a one-of-a-kind brew pub named “Curly’s”, after the late Curly Lambeau, interactive areas and a large Packers Pro Shop make the atrium the most awe-inspiring space in all of American sport facility architecture.   

Located one level below the main Lambeau Field Atrium floor, the new Packers Hall of Fame is over 25,000 square feet of Packers artefacts and celebrations of past glories. A replica of legendary Packers’ Head Coach, Vince Lombardi’s office, and lockers of all twenty Packers in the Pro Football Hall of Fame in Canton, Ohio, are among the highlights of this unique space. A moving, twelve-minute feature movie, about the History of the Green Bay Packers, produced by NFL Films for the team, starts the Hall of Fame Experience, which concludes with plaques of all 130 members of the Packers’ Hall of Fame, and a display of the team’s three Super Bowl Trophies. 

The focal point of the entire Atrium complex is Curly’s Pub, a restaurant, sports bar and interactive area, overlooking the Packers’ practice fields and lower atrium. Touted as ‘generous portions for generous prices’, the restaurant is a true experience for friends and family alike. Seventy-five plus monitors carry nearly all of the world’s major sporting and entertainment events, as well as interactive games and activities, offering something for everyone. 

The Exclusive Concessionaire

Nationally award-winning, Levy Restaurants, is the exclusive concessionaire of Curly’s and all of Lambeau Field. “We’re very excited to be able to partner with the Green Bay Packers and to honour the tradition and legacy of Curly Lambeau,” said Scott Kleckner of Levy Restaurants, Director of Operations for Curly’s Pub. “We couldn’t be any more excited about this incredible facility. We’ll have great food in large portions, great service and a great atmosphere.” 

Paying homage to the legendary founder of the Green Bay Packers, the unique décor of Curly’s highlights Curly Lambeau’s impact on Green Bay’s football history, with rare photographs and other unique memorabilia. All of the restaurant staff are trained in Packers’ history and the important role that Curly Lambeau played in this legendary sports team. In addition, many of the menu items pay homage to Packers’ legends with names that only a true fan would recognise, such as Calhoun’s Mini Burger Sampler and Cherry Street Cobbler.

The Packers Pro Shop

Finally, the Packers Pro Shop, owned and operated by the Packers, is a two-storey nirvana for the Packers fan of any age. Selling over 2,000 individual items, the Pro Shop features a refurbished 1957 Packers Chevy pickup truck (on display only), along with a Packers pool table, authentic helmets, jerseys and autograph memorabilia. The Packers Pro Shop, like the entire atrium, is open year-round on weekdays, weekends and holidays. 

Right: The Packers Pro Shop, 
open year-round, is No.1 in terms 
of revenue in the NFL.

Image courtesy: Ellerbe Becket

“The Packers Pro Shop is number one among all others in terms of revenue in the NFL,” touted Jones. “We went from $6.8M in sales in 2001 to $11.2M in 2002. This year we are already seeing signs of exceeding our best projections.” 

Left: The new club seating areas are proving extremely popular.

Image courtesy: Ellerbe Becket

Player Facilities

The Packers’ football facilities — a vital element in attracting players in today’s ultra-competitive NFL players’ market — were also renovated. 
“Mr. Harlan and I gave General Manager and Head Coach, Mike Sherman, the reins,” said Jones. “We challenged him to design the ultimate NFL team facility without reservation. The result is a modern design unlike any other in the NFL. It’s brand new, yet it retains the aura and nostalgia from the great Packers past, so that every player, every coach, every staff member that walks into these facilities is aware that he or she has an obligation to carry the tradition of yesteryear onto the field today.”

The centrepiece of these quarters is a breathtaking, 64 by 120 foot, football-shaped locker room, with 64 stately, wooden lockers. Another 25 lockers can be found in an adjoining, auxiliary locker room, utilised during training camp. “The locker room is the ‘hub’ of a player’s life,” said Jones. “In our new facility, it’s not only a place of gathering, but a place of learning, where Coach stands in the centre of our Green Bay logo and all eyes staring straight ahead focus on the Coach.”

A larger training room, with all of the most modern therapy pools, as well as a permanent X-ray machine, new weights room, individually positioned meeting rooms with theatre-style seating, a 150-plus seat team auditorium, a basketball court with a parquet floor, two racquetball courts, a team dining room and a players’ lounge were all added.

Not forgetting the Packers’ rich tradition and history of Lambeau Field, General Manager and Head Coach, Mike Sherman, took three slabs of concrete that were located in the team’s former field tunnel at the north end — walked over by the greatest players in club history — and had them moved to the new tunnel, in the southeast corner. A nearby bronze plaque recognises the presence of the concrete from the old tunnel. 

“Just like the fan experience begins the moment he or she enters our parking spaces and walks to our main gates, so too does the player experience, beginning when he parks his car and walks through the player entrance,” recounted Jones. “As the player walks in, he is immediately greeted by murals depicting the greatest Packers players. The last mural is blank and reads, ‘Who’s next?’ On any given Sunday, in any given career, that could be anyone — that is the Green Bay Packers tradition, a burden the player takes with him from the locker room past tradition once again and ultimately onto the field.”

Project Costs and Finance

The 32-month, $295M redevelopment, of Lambeau Field was completed on time and on budget — with the Packers remaining in Green Bay to play all their games throughout the entire renovation. process. 

“Certainly there were challenges to play through it,” recalled Eisenreich. “Different areas at different games in different phases needed to be isolated and fenced, redirecting and somewhat restricting the fans. However inconvenient though, the fans were (and are) outstanding. They were extremely cooperative. They voted to preserve Lambeau Field and understood what it would take to do it. There were no unwelcome instances. Rather, appreciation.” 

Put in motion by a county-wide referendum that approved a half-cent sales tax increase on September 12, 2000, the project was financed jointly by Brown County, the Packers, the City of Green Bay, the NFL and the State of Wisconsin. 

The Brown County sales tax increase supported $160M in county bonds. An economic analysis prepared in 2000 by the firms of PricewaterhouseCoopers and CSL International, concluded that the Packers account for $144M in total spending in Brown County, 1,620 jobs and $9.6M in annual tax revenue for state and local government. Therefore, it was natural to solicit the county’s support of the project, which was received with overwhelming favour by the citizens. 

The Packers, City of Green Bay and NFL contributed a total of $125.9M from a one-time seat-user fee ($1,400 for a seven-game ‘Gold Package’ season ticket and $600 for a three-game ‘Green Package’ season ticket), proceeds from the 1997-98 stock sales and a matching loan from the NFL under the auspices of its G-3 Stadium Financing Plan. Of these, the G-3 Stadium Finance Loan Payoff and the 1997-98 sale of stock are the most noteworthy. 

“We are the only NFL team to be a net-contributor to the G-3 Stadium Financing Programme,” stated Jones. 
  

Above: Fans enjoying the tailgating entertainment pre-game at the new Lambeau Field.

Right: The Club space. 
  
Images courtesy: 
Ellerbe Becket  
    

Unique Renovation Project

Furthermore, of all the reasons that make the Green Bay Packers and the renovation of Lambeau Field so incredibly unique, the most significant is that the team is literally owned by its fans. The renovation of Lambeau Field was not a closet decision made by stereotypical owners. It can literally be said that the improvements were the ‘will’ of the fans, and their willingness to contribute to the project, part of the long-standing relationship between the Packers and the Green Bay community — the love and pride of the community for the team.

“Supporting the Packers is a matter of pride,” said Jones. “Our fans look upon it as a responsibility, passed down by their fathers and their fathers’ fathers, who supported the team from its inception.”

Presently, 111,507 people, representing 4,748,910 shares, lay claim to ownership interest in the Packers. Shares of stock include voting rights, but the redemption price is minimal. No dividends are ever paid and the stock cannot appreciate in value. Furthermore, there are no season ticket privileges associated with stock ownership. No shareholder is allowed to own more than 200,000 shares, a safeguard to ensure that no one individual is able to assume control of the club.

“I know of no other sport fans in the world who freely give their hard earned money, particularly in such a small market, to a sports franchise in return for nothing,” Jones gleaned. “It’s another testament to Packers fans being among the best and most generous sports fans in the world. In an age of common franchise relocation in American sport, such overwhelming and unselfish love of any community for its team is truly unique and special, and as a Packers’ Executive, I remember that fact everyday.”

Past, Present & Future

There have now been four stock drives in the 84-year history of the team. The first took place in 1923 and raised $5,000 by selling 1,000 shares at $5 apiece. The fourth sale in 1997 added 105,989 new shareholders and raised more than $24M, monies that were utilised for the redevelopment project. Priced at $200 per share, fans bought 120,010 shares during the 17-week sale, which ended on March 16, 1998. Shares were purchased by citizens from all 50 states, as well as from Guam and the Virgin Islands. 

Over the past two decades, prior to the start of the just-completed redevelopment project, the Packers organisation itself had spent more than $50M on improvements to the stadium. The Packers’ contribution to this project ranked as the fifth-highest in NFL history. The club pledged to cover any project cost overruns in consideration of its authority to direct the design of the building and stadium construction. The State of Wisconsin also contributed $9.1M for stadium infrastructure improvements. 

Located in southwest Green Bay, surrounded on three sides by the Village of Ashwaubenon, Lambeau Field was built in 1956 on farmland purchased for $74,305. The stadium’s original architect, Somerville Inc., favoured the current site because it was sloped, making it perfect to build a bowl structure. 

The construction cost of the original Lambeau Field was $960,000, an amount shared equally by the Packer Corporation and the City of Green Bay. The facility was financed by way of a bond issue that received a 2-1 voter approval in a municipal referendum conducted in April 1956. The original stadium was dedicated on September 29, 1957 in ceremonies led by United States Vice President Richard Nixon.

Lambeau Field is now owned by the City of Green Bay and the Green Bay / Brown County Professional Football Stadium District. Retirement of the city’s original $960,000 deficit was celebrated at a mortgage burning ceremony in May 1978. 

“The financial status of the Packers is a matter of public record and tremendous pride for our team, fans and community of stockholders,” said Jones. “We have no significant debt outstanding. We can’t operate with significant debt because we are a publicly owned company. Instead, we have a surplus — a ‘rainy day fund’ — of soon-to-be $55M. Our goal is to increase this fund to one year of football operations or $110M.” 

Conclusion

The renovation of Lambeau Field proves that a revenue-driven, 365-day strategy for stadium reconstruction is an effective one in creating the new revenue streams necessary for franchise survival in American sport leagues, which lack true competitive balance, both on and off the field. 

“There are always levels of risk in undertaking bold initiatives,” recounts Jones. “A renovation of the calibre of Lambeau Field had never previously been attempted, nonetheless achieved. We were extremely careful to integrate discipline in the design and management of the project, understanding our obligation to our fans, the citizens of Wisconsin who ultimately approved public funding for the project, and stockholders.” 

It also proves that new revenue streams can be realised through the renovation of the most traditional American sport facilities. “The response to the atrium alone is overwhelming,” said Jones. “We have over 300+ events booked through 2007, including dozens of weddings, corporate meetings and charitable and religious events.”
  

Left: The new West Suites.

Image courtesy: Ellerbe Becket

below: The Packers’ fans are also literally the owners of the stadium. Something quite unique.

  
The newly renovated Lambeau Field therefore becomes more than just a redeveloped sport facility — it is a community and social gathering place, for celebrations and day-to-day dining and shopping alike. “In redeveloping the physical stadium, we’ve branded the Green Bay Packers product,” said Jones. “I want every fan in every place around the world to feel a part of the facility and the Green Bay Packer community — through the products that they can purchase at our store in person, online or by phone to the trip they may take to the facility only once in their life.”

“Every home game for more than 60-years into the future is sold out,” Jones continued. “But, now, just because the games are sold out, it does not mean that fans are shut out from coming. They can now take a unique stadium tour, see the Packers Hall of Fame, shop and enjoy an outstanding dining experience. We are very proud of our facility, and wish for everyone to come and experience our enthusiasm and excitement for our product.”

The product is the Green Bay Packers. The field of play is Lambeau Field. The NFL has no bigger team, no more hallowed playing surface, and, at present, no more aesthetic, year-round revenue producing stadium. Once again, Lambeau Field is the envy of the NFL. 

Authors Credits:
Kevin N. Kovalycsik, Visiting Assistant Professor at The Center for Sport Management, Seton Hall University, South Orange, NJ, USA
  

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