List of Green Bay Packers stadiums

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.[3] 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.[5]

Lambeau Field, the current home of the Green Bay Packers.
The gate to City Stadium, which still is in use by the Green Bay East High School.

As of 2018, the current home of the Green Bay Packers is Lambeau Field, an 81,435 seating capacity stadium in Green Bay, Wisconsin.[6] By the 1950s, City Stadium was seen by the NFL as too small and outdated to host an NFL team.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.[7] In April 1956, Green Bay voters overwhelmingly approved the bond issue to finance the new stadium.[8] After the Packers founder Curly Lambeau died in 1965, the stadium was renamed to Lambeau Field in his honor.[9][10] Its original capacity was 32,500 seats, although it was continually expanded from 1961 to 1995 to a capacity of 60,890 seats.[11][12][13] The stadium was farther renovated from 2001 to 2003 to increase capacity to 72,515, while also updating various aspects of the stadium.[14] Over 7,000 more seats were added to the south endzone in 2013 and the Lambeau Field Atrium was expanded in 2015.[15] These renovations increased the stadium's capacity to 81,435, making it the third largest football stadium in America.[16] Lambeau Field has been continuously ranked as one of the best stadiums in the NFL.[17][18] As of 2018, it is also the oldest continually operating NFL stadium, with the Packers having completed their 61st season. 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.[19]

Stadiums
Milwaukee County Stadium, where the Packers played part of their home schedule for 42 seasons
Stadium Location Capacity (Seats) Duration Coordinates
Hagemeister Park Green Bay, WI 3,500 1919–1922 44°30′25″N 87°59′33″W
Bellevue Park Green Bay, WI 5,000 1923–1924 44°30′15″N 87°59′2″W
City Stadium Green Bay, WI 25,000 1925–1956 44°30′27″N 87°59′33″W
Borchert Field Milwaukee, WI 13,000 1933 43°4′26″N 87°55′14″W
Wisconsin State Fair Park (Grandstand) West Allis, WI Unknown 1934–1951 43°1′19″N 88°0′46″W
Marquette Stadium Milwaukee, WI 24,000 1952 43°2′10″N 87°57′40″W
Milwaukee County Stadium Milwaukee, WI 53,192 1953–1994 43°1′48″N 87°58′27″W
Lambeau Field Green Bay, WI 81,435 1957–Present 44°30′5″N 88°3′44″W

Training facilities
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[20] that are part of a large complex located across the street from the Lambeau Field:

  • Clarke Hinkle Field, a full-size football field built in 1958 that has the same playing surface as Lambeau Field.
  • Ray Nitschke Field, a full-size football field built in 1997 that has FieldTurf playing surface, which is similar to other NFL stadiums.
  • Don Hutson Center, an indoor training center with two practice fields that are 60 yards (55 m) and 70 yards (64 m) long, respectively.

Since 1958, the Packers have hosted their yearly training camp at St. Norbert College, a private Catholic liberal arts college in De Pere, Wisconsin.[21] 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. The lodge burned down in 1950 under suspicious circumstances, just one week before Curly Lambeau resigned from the Packers.[22]

See also

References
  1. "Green Bay Packers Stadium Info". Other homes of the Packers, 1919-94. Green Bay Packers, Inc. Archived from the original on June 6, 2017. Retrieved August 5, 2018.
  2. Christl, Cliff (June 26, 2014). "Tale of two Hagemeister ballparks". Green Bay Packers, Inc. Archived from the original on August 16, 2016. Retrieved August 5, 2018.
  3. Romell, Rick (October 13, 1994). "Packers played long and well in Milwaukee". Milwaukee Sentinel. p. 5A.
  4. Larsen, Lloyd (August 19, 1960). "Recalling Bears' invasions of Borchert Field long ago". Milwaukee Sentinel. p. 3, part 2.
  5. Vanden Brook, Tom (December 16, 1994). "Packin' it in". The Milwaukee Journal. p. A, special section.
  6. Ryman, Richard (March 1, 2018). "Packers raise season-ticket prices for 2018". Green Bay Press-Gazette. Retrieved August 5, 2018.
  7. "New grid stadium planned by Packers". Milwaukee Journal. United Press. August 25, 1955. p. 18–part 2.
  8. "Bay votes a big 'yes' on stadium". Milwaukee Journal. United Press. April 4, 1956. p. 17–part 2.
  9. "Packer board backs Lambeau Field idea". Milwaukee Journal. UPI. August 3, 1965. p. 18–part 2.
  10. "'Lambeau Field' voted by council". Milwaukee Sentinel. Associated Press. August 5, 1965. p. 3–part 2.
  11. "Capacity to be boosted at Green Bay stadium". Milwaukee Journal. March 9, 1961. p. 10–part 2.
  12. Johnson, Chuck (August 12, 1965). "Packers in shape for debut". Milwaukee Journal. p. 15.
  13. "Packers start stadium work". Milwaukee Journal. January 23, 1970. p. 15–part 2.
  14. "Packers will seek tax increase in Brown Couty for stadium". The Shawano Leader. Associated Press. January 22, 2000. Retrieved August 5, 2018.
  15. Jones, Brian (April 6, 2017). "Improvements to Lambeau Field kept Packers from relocation talks". CBS Broadcasting Inc. Retrieved August 5, 2018.
  16. Vandermause, Mike (July 19, 2013). "Lambeau Field expansion puts Packers up with NFL's big boys". USA Today. Retrieved August 5, 2018.
  17. "Power Ranking All 32 NFL Stadiums by Game-Day Experience". Turner Broadcasting System, Inc. June 8, 2011. Retrieved August 5, 2018.
  18. Chase, Chris (October 16, 2015). "Ranking the best and worst NFL stadiums, from No. 1 (Lambeau) to 31 (Soldier)". USA Today. Retrieved August 5, 2018.
  19. "Expansion Planned for Lambeau". The New York Times. Associated Press. August 26, 2011. Retrieved August 5, 2018.
  20. "Training Camp". Green Bay Packers, Inc. 2018. Retrieved August 5, 2018.
  21. "Training Camp - St. Norbert College". Green Bay Packers, Inc. Archived from the original on October 5, 2017. Retrieved August 5, 2018.
  22. Fleming, David (September 19, 2013). "Blaze of Glory". ESPN Internet Ventures. Retrieved August 5, 2018.
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