List of Green Bay Packers stadiums

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A photo of Lambeau Field from the parking lot
Lambeau Field, the current home of the Green Bay Packers.

The Green Bay Packers are a professional American football team based in Green Bay, Wisconsin. Since their establishment as a professional football team in 1919, the Packers have played home games in eight stadiums.[1] Their first home was Hagemeister Park, where they played from 1919 to 1922, including their first two seasons in the National Football League (NFL). Hagemeister Park was a park owned by the Hagemeister Brewery. During games ropes were set-up around the field and attendees either walked up or parked their cars nearby. After the first season, a small grandstand was built and the field was fenced off.[2] Green Bay East High School was built at the location of Hagemeister Park in 1922, which forced the Packers to move to Bellevue Park, a small minor league baseball stadium that seated about 5,000. They only played for two seasons at Bellevue Park before moving to City Stadium in 1925.[1] Although City Stadium was the Packers' official home field, in 1933 they began to play some of their home games in Milwaukee to attract more fans and revenue.[3] After hosting one game at Borchert Field in 1933,[4] the Packers played two or three home games each year in Milwaukee, at Wisconsin State Fair Park from 1934 to 1951 and at Marquette Stadium in 1952.[1] The games were moved to Milwaukee County Stadium after it opened in 1953 and continued through 1994, after which the Packers moved back to Green Bay permanently.[3]

As of 2023, the current home of the Green Bay Packers is Lambeau Field, an 81,441 seating capacity stadium in Green Bay, Wisconsin.[5] By the 1950s, City Stadium was seen by the NFL as too small and outdated to host an NFL team. After threats of forcing the team to move to Milwaukee, the City of Green Bay built New City Stadium, which was funded by a voter-approved bond issue, in 1957.[6] In April 1956, Green Bay voters overwhelmingly approved the bond issue to finance the new stadium.[7] After the Packers founder Curly Lambeau died in 1965, the stadium was renamed to Lambeau Field in his honor.[8] Its original capacity was 32,500 seats, although it was continually expanded from 1961 to 1995 to a capacity of 60,890 seats.[9] The stadium was farther renovated from 2001 to 2003 to increase capacity to 72,515, while also updating various aspects of the stadium.[10] Over 7,000 more seats were added to the south endzone in 2013 and the Lambeau Field Atrium was expanded in 2015.[11] These renovations increased the stadium's capacity to 81,441, making it one of the largest football stadiums in America.[12] Lambeau Field has been continuously ranked as one of the best stadiums in the NFL.[13][14][15] As of 2024, it is also the oldest continually operating NFL stadium.[16] Only the Boston Red Sox at Fenway Park and the Chicago Cubs at Wrigley Field have longer active home-field tenures in American professional sports.[17]

Stadiums[edit]

Green Bay Packers stadiums
Image Stadium Location Capacity (Seats) Duration Coordinates Refs
Black and white photo of football players on a field Hagemeister Park Green Bay, Wisconsin 3,500 19191922 44°30′25″N 87°59′33″W / 44.50694°N 87.99250°W / 44.50694; -87.99250 (Hagemeister Park) [1]
Black and white photo of a crowd looking at a field in front of a building that says Bellevue Bellevue Park Green Bay, Wisconsin 3,300 19231924 44°30′15″N 87°59′2″W / 44.50417°N 87.98389°W / 44.50417; -87.98389 (Bellevue Park) [1]
Postcard showing an aerial view of City Stadium City Stadium Green Bay, Wisconsin 25,000 19251956 44°30′27″N 87°59′33″W / 44.50750°N 87.99250°W / 44.50750; -87.99250 (City Stadium) [1]
Postcard showing a crowd outside of Borchert Field Borchert Field Milwaukee, Wisconsin 13,000 1933 43°4′26″N 87°55′14″W / 43.07389°N 87.92056°W / 43.07389; -87.92056 (Borchert Field) [1][18]
Aerial view of Wisconsin State Fair Park Wisconsin State Fair Park (Grandstand) West Allis, Wisconsin 34,000 19341951 43°1′19″N 88°0′46″W / 43.02194°N 88.01278°W / 43.02194; -88.01278 (Wisconsin State Fair Park) [1][19]
Black and white photo of empty stands of Marquette Stadium Marquette Stadium Milwaukee, Wisconsin 21,000 1952 43°2′10″N 87°57′40″W / 43.03611°N 87.96111°W / 43.03611; -87.96111 (Marquette Stadium) [1][19]
The side of the facility with the words Milwaukee County Stadium Milwaukee County Stadium Milwaukee, Wisconsin 35,646 19531994 43°1′48″N 87°58′27″W / 43.03000°N 87.97417°W / 43.03000; -87.97417 (Milwaukee County Stadium) [1]
View of the side of Lambeau Field from the parking lot Lambeau Field Green Bay, Wisconsin 81,441 1957–Present 44°30′5″N 88°3′44″W / 44.50139°N 88.06222°W / 44.50139; -88.06222 (Lambeau Field) [16]

Training facilities[edit]

A photo of the side of the Don Hutson Center.
The Don Hutson Center, the largest part of the Green Bay Packers practice facility

In addition to Lambeau Field, the Green Bay Packers operate three separate training facilities that are part of a large complex located across the street from the Lambeau Field:

Since 1958, the Packers have hosted their yearly training camp at St. Norbert College, a private Catholic liberal arts college in De Pere, Wisconsin.[22] Prior to their current training facilities, the Packers practiced at Rockwood Lodge between 1946 and 1949. The lodge is believed to be the first self-contained team training facility in pro football history, although it burned down in 1950 under suspicious circumstances, just one week before Curly Lambeau resigned from the Packers.[23]

See also[edit]

References[edit]

  1. ^ a b c d e f g h i j "Other homes of the Packers, 1919-94". Packers.com. Archived from the original on June 6, 2017. Retrieved February 22, 2024.
  2. ^ Christl, Cliff (June 26, 2014). "Tale of two Hagemeister ballparks". Packers.com. Archived from the original on August 16, 2016. Retrieved February 22, 2024.
  3. ^ a b Stapleton, Arnie (December 16, 1994). "Milwaukee, NFL was unique match". Stevens Point Journal (clipping). p. 13. Archived from the original on February 23, 2024. Retrieved February 22, 2024 – via Newspapers.com.
  4. ^ "Packers Still are Looking for First Victory of Season". The Oshkosh Northwestern (clipping). October 2, 1933. p. 13. Archived from the original on February 23, 2024. Retrieved February 22, 2024 – via Newspapers.com.
  5. ^ Ryman, Richard (March 1, 2018). "Packers raise season-ticket prices for 2018". Green Bay Press-Gazette. Archived from the original on April 14, 2023. Retrieved February 22, 2024.
  6. ^ "New Stadium Is Planned For Green Bay Packers". The Austin American (clipping). UP. August 25, 1955. p. 30. Archived from the original on February 23, 2024. Retrieved February 22, 2024 – via Newspapers.com.
  7. ^ "Green Bay Votes 'Yes' On Stadium Bond Issue". La Crosse Tribune (clipping). AP. April 4, 1956. p. 24. Archived from the original on February 23, 2024. Retrieved February 22, 2024 – via Newspapers.com.
  8. ^ "Stadium Changed To Lambeau Field". Green Bay Press-Gazette (clipping). August 4, 1965. p. 1. Archived from the original on February 23, 2024. Retrieved February 22, 2024 – via Newspapers.com.
  9. ^ "A brief history of Lambeau Field renovations". IBMadison.com. August 20, 2013. Archived from the original on April 7, 2023. Retrieved February 22, 2023.
  10. ^ "Packers will seek tax increase in Brown County for stadium". The Shawano Leader. AP. January 22, 2000. Archived from the original on August 5, 2018. Retrieved February 22, 2024.
  11. ^ Jones, Brian (April 6, 2017). "Improvements to Lambeau Field kept Packers from relocation talks". CBSSports.com. Archived from the original on August 5, 2018. Retrieved February 22, 2024.
  12. ^ Vandermause, Mike (July 19, 2013). "Lambeau Field expansion puts Packers up with NFL's big boys". USAToday.com. Archived from the original on August 5, 2018. Retrieved February 22, 2024.
  13. ^ "Power Ranking All 32 NFL Stadiums by Game-Day Experience". BleacherReport.com. June 8, 2011. Archived from the original on August 5, 2018. Retrieved February 22, 2024.
  14. ^ Chase, Chris (October 16, 2015). "Ranking the best and worst NFL stadiums, from No. 1 (Lambeau) to 31 (Soldier)". USAToday.com. Archived from the original on February 24, 2021. Retrieved February 22, 2024.
  15. ^ Radcliffe, JR (August 22, 2023). "The Athletic ranked all 30 NFL stadiums and Lambeau Field did quite well". Milwaukee Journal_Sentinel. Archived from the original on August 29, 2023. Retrieved February 23, 2024.
  16. ^ a b Lewis, Robert (December 4, 2023). "Lambeau Field". Encyclopædia Britannica. Archived from the original on September 12, 2023. Retrieved January 4, 2024.
  17. ^ Wood, Ryan (October 1, 2017). "How Lambeau Field saved the Packers in Green Bay". Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel. Archived from the original on August 2, 2018. Retrieved February 22, 2024.
  18. ^ Foran, Chris (November 29, 2016). "When they started dismantling Borchert Field". Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel. Archived from the original on December 9, 2022. Retrieved February 23, 2024.
  19. ^ a b Christl, Cliff (June 29, 2023). "Part II: From State Fair Park to County Stadium". Packers.com. Archived from the original on September 24, 2023. Retrieved February 23, 2024.
  20. ^ a b "Training Camp". Packers.com. 2018. Archived from the original on August 5, 2018. Retrieved February 22, 2024.
  21. ^ Ryman, Richard (May 10, 2019). "New playing fields, new concessions: It's construction season at Lambeau Field". Green Bay Press-Gazette. Archived from the original on February 23, 2024. Retrieved February 22, 2024.
  22. ^ "Training Camp - St. Norbert College". Packers.com. Archived from the original on October 5, 2017. Retrieved February 22, 2024.
  23. ^ Fleming, David (September 19, 2013). "Blaze of Glory". ESPN.com. Archived from the original on September 26, 2018. Retrieved February 22, 2024.