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Turn Fans into Shareholders:
NFL Case Study
✓ 176,000+ fans turned into shareholders
✓ $65.8M raised via Common Stock Offering in just 3 months
✓ Over $30M processed in under 24 hours
The Green Bay Packers are one of the most storied franchises in professional sports. The team has a rich tradition dating back to its founding in 1919, and its fans are some of the most passionate in the NFL. The Packers have had six stock sales in franchise history: 1923, 1935, 1950, 1997, 2011, and 2021. Today, they are owned by 537,000 shareholders, many of whom are fans of the franchise.
In 2011, the Green Bay Packers became the first sports franchise to raise capital from their fanbase successfully. The team offered fans the opportunity to purchase shares for a minimum investment of $300. The team’s capital raising efforts were met with an overwhelming response from fans, who invested a total of $65 million. While the majority investors were from the United States, Canada also successfully contributed to the total capital raised. The capital raised was used to fund the construction of a new multi-purpose stadium.
In 2021, the Green Bay Packers wanted to raise another large common stock offering and knew they needed to digitize their process to succeed. They partnered with DealMaker, the leading provider of capital raising automation and optimization solutions, to help them streamline their process. The platform processed various payment types in the tens of thousands, allowing Green Bay Packers fans (retail investors) to invest in their favorite team in exchange for shares/ownership of the franchise.
As a result of this partnership, the Packers were able to quickly and easily connect with thousands of potential investors, giving them a unique opportunity to raise capital and grow their fan base simultaneously. The organization added 176,160 new shareholders in just over three months which totaled $65.8 million. This capital will help common stock offering initiatives related to the Packers' long-term growth strategy.
The power of DealMaker's technology allowed hundreds of thousands of mailed certificates and registered stocks to occur, all from a flow that took minutes to complete. Due to our technology's unmatched speed and efficiency, $65M was raised over four months, but what has been more noteworthy is $30M+ over 24 hours. In the traditional process, this would have been an arduous task that would have taken weeks, if not months, to complete. With DealMaker, it was a streamlined process that was completed in a fraction of the time. This demonstrates the incredible power of DealMaker's technology and its ability to help companies raise capital quickly and efficiently.
The Packers' campaign demonstrates the need for sophisticated technology like DealMaker to address the complexity of transactions and volume intake. With DealMaker, teams can confidently close more deals and tap into new sources of revenue. The platform streamlines the deal process by automating key tasks, including due diligence, document management, and signature gathering. In addition, DealMaker provides a powerful suite of tools for managing large volumes of transactions, data, and documents.
Flexibility and agility isn’t just for football players
With an offering like this, we knew the investor flow would have to be flexible and agile to their fans. There would be an initial rush for shares, so we built out a queue feature to ensure investors knew where they were in the line and wouldn’t get discouraged. This is a very familiar experience for ticket-buyers, and it helped us instil a sense of FOMO (Fear Of Missing Out) in potential purchasers and prevent cart abandonment. The line not only created a sense of urgency but it also encouraged people to not drop out and try again later. This meant the Green Bay Packers’ raise goal was hit much quicker than originally anticipated.
The flow also felt like it was a part of the Green Bay Packers’ site - their colors, branding, and overall look and feel helped confirm to their fans they were in the right place.
On the rare occasion a prospective investor did leave the investment flow, our proprietary tech allowed the GBP to retarget and message them to come back and complete their purchase. Many reminders were sent out to ensure that fans were well aware of the investment deadline and didn’t miss out. These communications were easily sent out via email and drove the success of the raise during its final days.
The NFL franchise leveraged our real-time analytics to track and understand where their shareholders were from, what the average investment amount was, and the number of repeat investors. All of this information was crucial for the only fan-owned franchise in the league to plan out their capital raise strategy and learn for next time.
In 2011, the Green Bay Packers became the first sports franchise to raise capital from their fanbase successfully. The team offered fans the opportunity to purchase shares for a minimum investment of $300. The team’s capital raising efforts were met with an overwhelming response from fans, who invested a total of $65 million. While the majority investors were from the United States, Canada also successfully contributed to the total capital raised. The capital raised was used to fund the construction of a new multi-purpose stadium.
In 2021, the Green Bay Packers wanted to raise another large common stock offering and knew they needed to digitize their process to succeed. They partnered with DealMaker, the leading provider of capital raising automation and optimization solutions, to help them streamline their process. The platform processed various payment types in the tens of thousands, allowing Green Bay Packers fans (retail investors) to invest in their favorite team in exchange for shares/ownership of the franchise.
As a result of this partnership, the Packers were able to quickly and easily connect with thousands of potential investors, giving them a unique opportunity to raise capital and grow their fan base simultaneously. The organization added 176,160 new shareholders in just over three months which totaled $65.8 million. This capital will help common stock offering initiatives related to the Packers' long-term growth strategy.
The power of DealMaker's technology allowed hundreds of thousands of mailed certificates and registered stocks to occur, all from a flow that took minutes to complete. Due to our technology's unmatched speed and efficiency, $65M was raised over four months, but what has been more noteworthy is $30M+ over 24 hours. In the traditional process, this would have been an arduous task that would have taken weeks, if not months, to complete. With DealMaker, it was a streamlined process that was completed in a fraction of the time. This demonstrates the incredible power of DealMaker's technology and its ability to help companies raise capital quickly and efficiently.
The Packers' campaign demonstrates the need for sophisticated technology like DealMaker to address the complexity of transactions and volume intake. With DealMaker, teams can confidently close more deals and tap into new sources of revenue. The platform streamlines the deal process by automating key tasks, including due diligence, document management, and signature gathering. In addition, DealMaker provides a powerful suite of tools for managing large volumes of transactions, data, and documents.
Flexibility and agility isn’t just for football players
With an offering like this, we knew the investor flow would have to be flexible and agile to their fans. There would be an initial rush for shares, so we built out a queue feature to ensure investors knew where they were in the line and wouldn’t get discouraged. This is a very familiar experience for ticket-buyers, and it helped us instil a sense of FOMO (Fear Of Missing Out) in potential purchasers and prevent cart abandonment. The line not only created a sense of urgency but it also encouraged people to not drop out and try again later. This meant the Green Bay Packers’ raise goal was hit much quicker than originally anticipated.
The flow also felt like it was a part of the Green Bay Packers’ site - their colors, branding, and overall look and feel helped confirm to their fans they were in the right place.
On the rare occasion a prospective investor did leave the investment flow, our proprietary tech allowed the GBP to retarget and message them to come back and complete their purchase. Many reminders were sent out to ensure that fans were well aware of the investment deadline and didn’t miss out. These communications were easily sent out via email and drove the success of the raise during its final days.
The NFL franchise leveraged our real-time analytics to track and understand where their shareholders were from, what the average investment amount was, and the number of repeat investors. All of this information was crucial for the only fan-owned franchise in the league to plan out their capital raise strategy and learn for next time.
Source: DealMaker's platform stats
Owning vs. Renting
For the sports and entertainment industries, equity crowdfunding is an incredibly powerful way to raise capital. Why? Professional sports teams already have a baked-in advantage: few things engender such strong loyalty. That said, it’s still critical for these teams to maintain and nurture that loyalty. To reward that connection. Because whether official or not, that’s exactly what fans are: shareholders. The Packers join the likes of European soccer powerhouses FC Barcelona, Real Madrid F.C., the German Bundesliga and others in transforming social capital into financial capital by offering fan ownership.
Additionally, sports organizations can garner more than just capital with this strategy; research shows customers who become shareholders drive 54% more value into the brand and show 60% more brand loyalty and engagement. They are empowered to care on an entirely new level.
Fans are the lifeblood of all sports leagues—and decision-makers know that growing and nurturing those relationships is more critical than ever today.
Owning vs. Renting
For the sports and entertainment industries, equity crowdfunding is an incredibly powerful way to raise capital. Why? Professional sports teams already have a baked-in advantage: few things engender such strong loyalty. That said, it’s still critical for these teams to maintain and nurture that loyalty. To reward that connection. Because whether official or not, that’s exactly what fans are: shareholders. The Packers join the likes of European soccer powerhouses FC Barcelona, Real Madrid F.C., the German Bundesliga and others in transforming social capital into financial capital by offering fan ownership.
Additionally, sports organizations can garner more than just capital with this strategy; research shows customers who become shareholders drive 54% more value into the brand and show 60% more brand loyalty and engagement. They are empowered to care on an entirely new level.
Fans are the lifeblood of all sports leagues—and decision-makers know that growing and nurturing those relationships is more critical than ever today.