Note: I’m not involved in, nor do I really have any more than a vague idea how securities, the stock market, or the SEC work or the laws and regulations regarding them. Bear this in mind when responding.
I’m trying to understand the nuts and bolts of this. I’ve read the previous thread on the subject but it didn’t really answer all of my questions on the subject.
Is Packers stock regulated by the SEC? Being a non-profit organization, how is it even legal for them to sell stock? By what legal mechanism are they allowed to restrict the number of shares sold to any one individual?
I suppose my real question would be, or it all starts with, is it real stock like shares of IBM are real stock, or is it a pricey fund-raising souvenir?
Wikipedia addresses at least one of these issues: the Packers aren’t a non-profit. They’re run like one, but they’re a for-profit corporation from a technical standpoint. And I think the Packers can restrict their stock sales because they are not a publicly traded company.
It’s not traded on any exchange, and probably not even over the counter. You buy shares by finding a shareholder and making an offer.
You can make any rules you want for how shares are traded and how many you can buy. That’s one of the conditions of sale; if you don’t like them, you shouldn’t buy the stock.
SEC regulations probably apply, but since the stock is illiquid, it would be unusual for there to be any issues. It would be very difficult for anyone to benefit from insider trading, for instance, since he’d have to locate people willing to sell in a short amount of time and then, once the stock went up, he’d have to go through the same trouble to sell and make a profit.
Technically, the Packers is a regular commercial corporation, but they are run as a nonprofit.
The second part here may be addressing it, but I don’t think you can just make an offer to an existing shareholder. I’m pretty sure the previous stock sales mandate that shares can only be transferred to a family member.
That has been my understanding, as well (I’m a shareholder). You can transfer your stock to a family member, but if you want to sell it otherwise, the Packers can exercise their right to repurchase your stock from you (superceding any sale you might make to a third party). This, along the restrictions on the number of shares which any one individual can hold, is in there to keep anyone from attempting to gain majority control of the team (and potentially move it).
BTW, I absolutely don’t think of my share of Packer stock as an investment. I think of it as:
a) my tiny little investment in keeping the team competitive (I bought my share in 1997, the last sale of stock, which was done to help finance stadium expansion / improvement)
b) my $250 souvenir
c) my excuse for being able to yell at the television when my employees screw up
