GREEN BAY PACKERS NEWS: Early Stock Sales Skyrocket

The Green Bay Packers, the smallest-market team in the NFL, are among the most beloved franchises in American sports.

On Tuesday, the defending Super Bowl Champions gained several hundred new owners.

To help pay for renovations to famed stadium Lambeau Field, the publicly traded team put shares on sale at $250. To purchase shares, anyone can go to PackersOwner.com, and buy a piece of the team.

Packers' President Mark Murphy said there were 1,600 orders in the first 11 minutes of the sale. The Web site remained active with potential investors hours later.

In the first two hours, 28,000 shares were sold, which is more than 10 percent of the available shares, the Green Bay Press Gazette reported. The stock offering continues until February 29.

The stock does not pay dividends or appreciate in value.

The team sold about 120,000 shares in its last offering in 1997. There were three other stock sales, which took place in 1923, 1935, and 1950.

According to the Associated Press, the Packers hopes to generate at least $22 million through the stock sale to help pay for $143-million renovation project at Lambeau. The team is looking to add 6,700 additional seats, as well as a new high-definition video screens and to build new entrance by 2013.

The Packers are considered a non-profit and were founded in 1919. The team are the third-oldest franchise in the NFL.

Green Bay has a population just above 100,000. The city has the nickname Titletown, as the Packers have won 11 championships and two Super Bowls.

At the moment, the Packers are the only undefeated team in the league, and have perhaps the best player in the league in Aaron Rodgers. The quarterback's statistics have been outstanding, as he clearly leads the NFL is passer rating (125.3)