The Chicago Bears have faced uncertainty from many angles for years, and not just on the field. As the organization floundered in the 2010s, there were constant discussions about whether the McCaskey family should still own it. After all, they don’t really have the capital to keep up with richer owners in the league. They certainly can’t be called the most football-savvy either, despite their family history. Only recently have things seemed to settle down. George McCaskey is clearly in charge, and the team has unquestioned fixtures at GM (Ryan Poles), head coach (Ben Johnson), and quarterback (Caleb Williams). The same can’t be said for the Green Bay Packers.
Stability has been synonymous with the Bears’ arch-rival for decades. Not only have they rarely seen changes at quarterback, head coach, or GM over the past 30 years, but they’ve also exploited certain advantages of being a publicly owned franchise. However, those advantages are suddenly in serious danger. It started with reports that Wisconsin Congressman Scott Fitzgerald is looking to dismantle the Sports Broadcasting Act, a loophole in antitrust laws that allows the NFL to negotiate television rights. Killing it would force teams to negotiate local rights individually, which is a big problem for small markets like Green Bay.
If that weren’t bad enough, team president Ed Policy admitted to shareholders recently that rising player costs have put the franchise in a concerning revenue crunch.
The Chicago Bears can be thankful they’re in a big market.
Green Bay Packers president and CEO Ed Policy says adjustments might be necessary as the NFL’s only publicly owned franchise attempts to remain financially competitive in the long term.
“It’s like other teams have access to this ATM machine that we just don’t have right now,” Policy said Friday as the Packers released their annual expenses and revenues for the 2026 fiscal year, three days before the organization holds its annual shareholders meeting…
…”We’re going to have to be more aggressive with revenue generation going forward,” Policy said. “We all know the cost of competing in the NFL is going up, and other teams have access to capital sources that we just don’t have.”
In all honesty, the Packers probably shouldn’t exist.
With a population of barely over 230,000, Green Bay is the smallest market among the four major sports in the United States. The next closest is Buffalo at a minimum of 1.15 million people. Every other sports team that played in markets of a similar size to Green Bay died long ago. This was because they just couldn’t handle the financial responsibilities of their respective leagues. The NFL has kept the franchise stable for so long because of its ability to negotiate highly profitable television deals. It also hasn’t hurt that the Packers have established a popular brand that has a far reach across the country.
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Yet the money always catches up. Due to the NFL’s structure, it has a guaranteed minimum cash spending window. That requires teams to spend a minimum amount of money in blocks over a three-year window. For the 2024-2026 block, that is $752.22 million. Again, that is the minimum amount the Chicago Bears and Green Bay have to spend to be in compliance. Spending the minimum doesn’t usually make you a competitive football team. You must be willing to throw some cash around to find roster upgrades.
Green Bay isn’t well-equipped to do that.
Their massive swing to acquire Micah Parsons from the Dallas Cowboys last year was pretty out of character. Giving up that much draft capital is one thing, but it was the enormous contract that really stood out. A four-year deal at $46.5 million per year. Some NFL teams would’ve been able to absorb that and keep the roster together. For the Packers, it came at a price. Defensive tackle Kenny Clark was sent back to Dallas in the trade. Edge rusher Rashan Gary was traded to Dallas this offseason as well. Cornerback Nate Hobbs was released. Quay Walker, Romeo Doubs, Elgton Jenkins, and Rasheed Walker walked in free agency.
The cap issue was never severe enough to warrant such a mass exodus. Yet it’s not the cap that is the problem. It is the cash flow. Green Bay just doesn’t have the pockets to pay multiple veteran players what they feel they deserve. This is why many in the organization are nervous. The current structure could break down soon unless the organization finds ways to increase revenue. Would they finally sell to a private owner? Would they consider moving to a bigger market?
It would be an ironic ending after the Bears spent over a century trying to snuff that team out.
