Thom Loverro: A team for, by and of the people

It is a marvel. In 2008, there still is an NFL franchise in Green Bay, Wis.

It’s not just any franchise but one of the most successful in the league both on the field and at the cash register - all in a city of just 100,000 people.

What is even more remarkable is that the NFL franchise in Green Bay is one of the highest-profile teams nationally.

It’s like Appalachian State having the following of Notre Dame.

Green Bay has no business having an NFL franchise. There are 259 cities in America with larger populations.

Billings, Mont., is bigger. Midland, Texas, is bigger. Topeka, Kan., is bigger.

The Packers are one of the original NFL franchises, dating to 1920 when the league got its start in the Midwest in small towns like Green Bay and Decatur, Ill.

Through a variety of circumstances, the Packers have the unique security blanket of being owned, basically, by the fans - the only reason there still is a team in Green Bay.

The Packers were successful early in their history under coach and founder Curly Lambeau, so unlike franchises in places like Dayton, Ohio, and Akron, Ohio, the Packers stayed put.

The Packers were able to do so because the original articles of incorporation ensured the club was a nonprofit organization with stockholders and board members owning the team.

More than 100,000 fans hold shares in the Packers, giving them voting rights, but no dividends are ever paid, and the stock cannot appreciate in value. And no one shareholder can own more than 200,000 shares. There is no Dan Snyder, no Jerry Jones, no Al Davis.

Many communities today would love to have that setup. Such a system would have prevented the Colts from leaving Baltimore. That city tried to take over the franchise when Bob Irsay moved it to Indianapolis in 1984, going to court to seek eminent domain to stop the move - an attempt that proved unsuccessful.

Let’s face it, the sanest system for sports ownership in America is in Green Bay.

Insanity, though is what pays for pro sports owners.

Taxpayers in two cities certainly would have been better off under the Green Bay system. Three stadiums - one in Baltimore and, with the opening of Lucas Oil Field, two in Indianapolis - have been built because of the Colts’ move at a cost of $1 billion.

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