| | GREEN BAY, Wis. -- As the NFL's only publicly owned franchise, the Green Bay Packers cannot threaten to leave town if
they don't get tax support for a new or renovated stadium, unlike other teams, the team's president said.
"We don't have leverage, we can't make any threats," Bob
Harlan told the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel in a story published
Sunday. "We're here to stay.
"If we fold up, if we go out of business, what's left of our
revenue goes to the Green Bay Packer Foundation and we're gone."
The Packers have said they need public tax support for a new or
renovated stadium to remain financially healthy and competitive in
the NFL. Not securing such support, means a "dilapidated team and
a dilapidated stadium with an extremely bleak future," Harlan told the newspaper.
Harlan and Packers officials have met with state officials about
public financing for expanding or replacing Lambeau Field. Harlan
said he is willing to submit the issue to a referendum, recalling
that when the city went to its voters in 1956 about building a new
stadium, "it won 2 to 1."
Harlan has said the team is focusing on renovating Lambeau
Field, but he added that if consultants recommend a new stadium,
the Packers have to be "prepared to live with that."
"We've looked at both options as strong as we possibly can,"
Harlan said. "But we've got to do what's right for this organization." | |
ALSO SEE
Revived Bucs pound Pack, close in on division title
 |
