Green Bay City Council says Packers misrepresented Lambeau Field lease talks

Members of the Green Bay City Council on Wednesday said the Green Bay Packers misrepresented the state of stalled negotiations over a lease extension for Lambeau Field.

All 12 council members, dressed in Packers gear, attended a press conference to address concerns raised by the Packers regarding the stadium lease. A key issue is rent payments the team would commit to under a proposed long-term lease. The team’s current lease expires in eight years.

Talks between the team and the city to extend the lease for Lambeau stalled earlier this year when the city paused negotiations. Because negotiations stopped, the Packers delayed $80 million in planned renovations to the stadium this summer. 

Council members who spoke Wednesday said the terms of a proposed lease extension presented by the Packers did not accurately reflect negotiations between the city and the team.

“It includes everything that they want in a deal, but nothing that benefits the taxpayers of the city of Green Bay,” said Council President Brian Johnson. “The Packers have repeatedly reneged on their promise to provide revised terms that reflect our discussions.”

Johnson said the Council does not want to jeopardize the future of the team in Green Bay and wants to achieve a long-term agreement that recognizes both the needs of the Packers and Green Bay taxpayers.

The current lease runs through 2032 with five two-year options that would extend it another decade. The Packers are seeking a long-term extension, saying it’s necessary to move forward with $1.5 billion worth of upgrades to the stadium. 

A statement issued after Wednesday’s press conference did not respond to the specific charge that the team misrepresented the city’s role in negotiations. It did offer a new proposal that addressed one of the biggest sticking points between the team and the city: a 2.75 percent annual increase in rent payments from the team to the city.

The team had previously proposed flattening rent payments to allow the team to assume all maintenance and upgrade costs moving forward.

Green Bay Mayor Eric Genrich told reporters last week that removing annual rent increases is a “nonstarter” for the city. 

Council members reiterated that position when they spoke to the media. They said the city would lose out on more than $30 million over the next 39 years without the annual rent escalator.

“We have an escalator in place right now, and there’s no incentive for us to step away from that,” Johnson said. “That’s why we terminated negotiations.” 

Under the new proposal, the Packers said they would invest $1.5 billion into Lambeau Field, ensure taxpayers have no obligation in that investment and extend the current rent escalator for 30 years while keeping all other terms of the current lease the same.

“This process has become untenable, as the Packers have already invested four years in discussions and submitted three proposals without receiving a single counter proposal,” the statement read. “If this extension as proposed is unacceptable, the Packers will not engage in further discussions.”

Genrich, Johnson and Council Vice President Bill Galvin released a joint statement Friday morning responding to the Packers’ latest proposal.

“We’re pleased the Packers have heard some of the City’s concerns and are making significant commitments about their continued term and investment in Lambeau — it’s a positive step,” the statement read. “That said, this issue is too critical to the City’s future to debate in the media, and we look forward to engaging in a good faith negotiation directly with the team.”

Last week, the Packers sent a letter to the Green Bay/Brown County Professional Football Stadium District, asking it to step in. The stadium district is a public body made up of officials from Brown County, Green Bay and Ashwaubenon.

“The Packers and the District together can develop a proposal that ensures the necessary improvements can move forward without further delay, with the goal of presenting it to the City,” the letter reads.

In the letter, the Packers said they’ve tried to connect with Genrich in recent months, but said he’s shown an unwillingness to engage and described him as obstructing progress on the lease.

Johnson said the Council felt Genrich was “absolutely not being an obstructionist.” He said the mayor was sticking up for what’s right for Green Bay taxpayers while asking for reasonable things that would be included in a lease agreement. 

“You have 12 alders here today who are unanimously standing here saying that we support the mayor’s position on this,” he said. “When was the last time you’ve ever seen the City Council be unanimous on anything?”

Johnson also acknowledged that the group included alders who did not endorse the mayor when he sought reelection last year.

“The Packers have brought this into the media now twice,” he said of the lease negotiations. “We have not done that. We want this to be a cordial negotiation between two parties.”