Green Bay Packers On Verge of Stadium Expansion

National Football League team, the Green Bay Packers are planning a expansion to their stadium which will allow them to have about 6,600 new seats at Lambeau Field in time for the 2013 season.

The Packers plan to fund the $130 million project at their expense, perhaps through another stock sale that would give even more fans the chance to be a part-owner of one of the NFL’s most storied franchises.

Mark Murphy, Packers President, said: “We’re excited to begin work on the expansion of Lambeau Field,”

The seats will be in four levels in the south end zone. The prices haven’t been set yet but are expected to range between the current cost for bowl seats, where the top price is $87, and club seats, where the top price is $313. The project also includes a new rooftop viewing terrace that club-seat holders can use on game days, along with new gates, elevators and access points for people with disabilities.

Lambeau Field is the oldest joint used NFL stadium, and the third-oldest continually operating venue in major sports behind Chicago’s Wrigley Field and Boston’s Fenway Park. The stadium has undergone numerous renovations, updates and additions since opening in 1957 with 32,500 seats; it now has 73,128.

The new seats will be distributed through a seniority system. Current season-ticket holders will get first access, with a chance to trade their existing seats, and priority goes to those who have held tickets the longest. After that, fans on the waiting list will finally get a chance they’ve spent decades waiting for.

The team said it was considering raising money through a stock sale, which would be the team’s fifth. Green Bay is the NFL’s only publicly owned team.

At a shareholder meeting last month, Packers officials highlighted the team’s strong financial performance in 2010-11. The team reported a $12 million profit from operations for 2010-2011, up $2.2 million from the previous year. The overall net income was $17.1 million — a jump of nearly $12 million over last year, due in large part to improved performance by investments.

The Packers quoted a study that said the expansion is expected to employ about 1,600 workers over the next two years, and they predict the new seats will translate into about $11 million of spending in Brown County from non-residents.