Pennsville’s Healy enhances his fandom of the Green Bay Packers as a shareholder of the team
By Al Muskewitz
Riverview Sports News
PENNSVILLE – The email hit Mike Healy’s in box in early July like it does every year and he knew exactly what it meant. It was time he could tell his players he’s an NFL owner.
The 10th-year Pennsville football coach is one of more than 535,000 stockholders who own a “piece” of the Green Bay Packers. The framed certificate hangs in his home like a diploma. It’s largely ceremonial, mostly a fundraiser for the team with no voting position, but it is a great conversation starter.
“It’s a unique thing; something cool to be part of,” said Healy, the longest-tenured head football coach in Salem County. “It’s fun. It’s cool. It’s something I find entertaining. I have fun with the kids every year. I put some things out there for my freshman classes and they argue with me, like no you’re not, and I say yes I am an NFL owner.
“Usually there’s one kid in each class that kind of knows the background to it and then to the other kids I explain it. They’re like, wait, is that the worse investment of all time? Yeah, financially the worst investment you could ever make, but pretty much you get to say I’m an NFL owner.”
Healy’s fandom for the Packers in deep-rooted. His father grew up in Baltimore and was a huge Colts fan. The family would go to church on Sunday with players like Johnny Unitas and then make their way to Memorial Stadium for the game. The Colts infamously and covertly relocated to Indianapolis in 1984, ending 31 years of football in the city.
“He still gets a little emotional when they talk about the Colts leaving in the middle of the night,” Healy said of his dad
When the family moved to Jersey in broad daylight, they brought their fandom for the Orioles with them but didn’t have a football team to root for. Healy always liked quarterback Brett Favre growing up and by association became a Packers fan. A trip to Green Bay with Dad sealed it for him. The rest of the family, of course, have become Eagles fans.
“I still remember fourth-and-26 (in the 2003-24 NFL divisional playoffs),” he said. “I’ll never forget that. My brothers don’t let me live that down.”
The Packers’ public stock program is one of the most unique arrangements in all of professional sports. The team has been a publicly owned, non-profit corporation since 1923. There are approximately 5.2 million outstanding shares owned by 538,967 stockholders throughout the United States, its territories and Canada, none of whom receives a dividend on the initial investment. There have been six stock sales: 1923, 1935, 1950, 1997, 2011 and 2022. Future offerings are not currently being considered.
The year Healy bought in, individual shares went for $200. That sale raised more than $24 million to help fund the construction of the five-story Lambeau Field Atrium.
As a stockholder, Healy can attend the annual shareholders meeting, which this year was July 27, but cannot vote. And he can buy gear from the Packers Team Store with “Shareholder” on it. He’s never physically attended a meeting, but has logged into them remotely.
To protect from someone taking control of the team, the articles of incorporation prohibit any person from owning more than 200,000 shares. Recent stock sales have limited purchases to 200. Healy is quite happy with his one.
“The shares are more for the fans,” he said. “I would definitely love it (to get a vote); it’d be cool. It’d be complete chaos if they let everyone vote on it, but it would be kind of fun. Even if there was one thing a year that was really not a big issue and they just kind of let everyone who has a share a vote kind of for entertainment purpose, I would definitely do it.”
Riverview Sports News 