Why did the Packers play in Milwaukee in the 1970s?

[JoeZagorski]

Hey Guys,
I know that the Green Bay Packers played several games each year during the 1960s and 1970s at Milwaukee County Stadium. Does anyone know the origin of why the Pack decided to play some of their home games there? What were the reason(s) behind that decision? Thanks for any information that you can give me on this topic.
Sincerely,
Joe Zagorski

[Gary Najman]

It was a financial thing, as Milwaukee is the largest city and TV market, and when it opened in 1953, County Stadium had more capacity that City Stadium, and Lambeau Field (opened in 1957) only reach County Stadium's 53,000 capacity in the 70s (by the way, both teams were in the same sideline due to its baseball configuration, and the endzones were very close to the stands). It's interesting that the Packers continued to play in County Stadium until 1994, in the last game there Brett Favre ran for a late TD to beat Atlanta.

http://onmilwaukee.com/sports/articles/ ... dgame.html

[Gary Najman]

It was a financial thing, as Milwaukee is the largest city and TV market, and when it opened in 1953, County Stadium had more capacity that City Stadium, and Lambeau Field (opened in 1957) only reach County Stadium's 53,000 capacity in the 70s (by the way, both teams were in the same sideline due to its baseball configuration, and the endzones were very close to the stands). It's interesting that the Packers continued to play in County Stadium until 1994, in the last game there Brett Favre ran for a late TD to beat Atlanta.

http://onmilwaukee.com/sports/articles/ ... dgame.html

http://packerville.blogspot.mx/2011/05/ ... adium.html

[JoeZagorski]

Thanks Guys!
Joe Z.

[Ronfitch]

The Packers had played in Milwaukee/Milwaukee area for a couple of decades prior to County Stadium's arrival in 1953, first at Borchert Field in '33, the Wisconsin State Fair Grounds in West Allis from '34 - '51 and at Marquette Stadium in '52.

Here's a story from 2012 - including quotes from our own Ken Crippen - about the Milwaukee Badgers (at the conference in Green Bay in July, member Rick Schabowski gave a fantastic presentation on the Badgers). It touches on the Packers' early roots in Milwaukee:

http://www.foxsports.com/other/story/mi ... ise-071212

[JoeZagorski]

Schabowski did indeed deliver a great presentation to us in Green Bay last summer. That was a great weekend!
Joe Zagorski