Packers enjoy another record financial year

MADISON, Wis. (AP) -- The Green Bay Packers released details of another banner year financially on Tuesday, crediting another winning season, revenue-sharing across the NFL and shrinking player costs.

Team President and CEO Mark Murphy told reporters the Packers generated a record $308.1 million in revenue, up 2 percent from 2012's record $302 million.

"Another strong year on the field," Murphy said. "Fourth year in a row to be in the playoffs, won two straight NFC North (Division) championships. That helps our finances."

The team made a record $54.3 million in profits, up 26.4 percent from the previous year's record $43 million. It also set a record in net income at $43.1 million, up 1 percent from $42.7 million. Expenses shrank by 2 percent, from $259 million to just shy of $254 million in 2013.

As the NFL's only publicly owned franchise, the Packers are the only league team required to reveal detailed financial data.

Murphy keyed on the Packers' on-field success as a major money maker. The team finished 11-5 last season, won the division title and defeated the Minnesota Vikings in a home playoff game before losing to the San Francisco 49ers on the road. Last year, the team went 15-1 in the regular season before losing to the New York Giants in the playoffs. The year before that, Green Bay won the Super Bowl.

The team said so-called local revenue, which includes money from home gates, local media deals, Pro Shop sales and Lambeau Field tours, dipped 1.7 percent in 2013. But Murphy noted the 2012 figures were unusually high, including a 9.3 percent jump in local revenue driven largely by the team's 15-1 run and the Super Bowl afterglow.

"We're still well above what we'd consider normal or expected revenue in pro shop sales, (stadium) tours and Hall of Fame visits," Murphy said. "It's just really down from all-time highs."

Murphy also cited a nearly 5 percent increase in national revenue, which includes revenue sources divided among all NFL teams, such as broadcast deals and road receipts. Murphy said a new league uniform deal with Nike, and Time Warner and Cablevision adding the NFL Network, helped bolster those figures.

The Packers spent $136 million on player costs, down from $155 million in 2012, Murphy said. Lucrative contract extensions that quarterback Aaron Rodgers and linebacker Clay Mathews signed in mid-April — Rodgers added five more years to his current deal for a reported $110 million and Matthews reportedly added five more to his contract for $66 million — weren't completed in time to be included in the team's 2013 figures; the team's fiscal year runs from March 31 to April 1.

Murphy said the team plans to continue investing in its facilities, including wrapping up a 7,000-seat addition at Lambeau in time for the upcoming season and renovating the stadium's atrium to include a new pro shop, Hall of Fame and restaurant by June 2015. The two projects are expected to cost a combined $286.5 million.