Fans Bring Tourism Dollars To Green Bay As Packers Begin Practices

Fans of the Green Bay Packers congregated at the team’s outdoor practice field this morning for a glimpse of this year’s team.

Then they prepared to spend some money in town.

Tourism officials in Green Bay estimate fans will drop more than $10 million per week leading up to the official beginning of the football season.

It all begins this week with training camp. Fans can watch outdoor practices for free, but most spend plenty for the privilege.

Alexander Shashko from Madison can’t put an exact price on his time in Green Bay.

“I have no idea,” he says. “If I get out of the pro shop without spending a couple of hundred dollars it’ll be a miracle.”

Shashko is in town with his friend Eric Stoller, who is a Green Bay native (he says he grew up down the street from Packer’s great Lynn Dickey) and now lives in Pennsylvania.

“I’ve already dropped a hundo and a half at the pro shop and I’m probably not done yet,” says Stoller. “I’m staying with my folks, so there’s that. But we’ll be out for dinner and Bay Beach, all the things I remember as a kid.”

Bay Beach is an amusement park and one of the attractions fans may hit after training camp practices.

The Packers pre-season kicks off on August third with the team’s family night, which is sold out. This week also saw the Packer’s shareholders meeting and the opening of a new sporting goods store near Lambeau Field.