Associated Press
The NFL notebook …
GREEN BAY, Wis. ó The Green Bay Packers haven’t been sacked by the recession despite a rough season on the field and significant financial challenges off it, but officials remain wary of the future.
The NFL’s only publicly owned franchise turned a $20.1 million operating profit last year, according to team officials. Taking into account significant investment losses, the Packers still managed $4 million in net income for the fiscal year ending March 31.
That’s down $19.4 million from the previous year ó but the numbers remain black, not red, and that’s more than can be said for many businesses these days.
“We have been able to weather it OK,” Packers treasurer Larry Weyers said. “We’re still a strong institution and we still have the strength to support football operations and maintain the quality of our football team.”
But Weyers added: “It’s obviously somewhat concerning whenever your profits dropped off as much as ours did this year.”
ACC QB WAIVED
The Minnesota Vikings have waived quarterback Sean Glennon.
Glennon was signed as rookie free agents after not being drafted in April. He played at Virginia Tech.
The cuts trimmed the Vikings roster to 82 players. The roster limit is 80 players, but drafted rookies do not count against the cap until they are signed.
NFL NETWORK
Now that Comcast and the NFL Network have come to an agreement, other cable operators presumably will follow suit. Watch for the league to reach out to Time Warner within the next couple of weeks.
MORE TV
Something you might have missed about the NFL’s four-year, $4-billion deal with DirecTV: For the first time, the league licensed the right to stream entire game broadcasts online. That will happen no later than 2012 and figures to be a boon for people who want Sunday Ticket but can’t get the satellite signal. Hello, New York apartment dwellers.
BIG BEN
In the week before the U.S. Open, Steelers quarterback Ben Roethlisberger shot an 81 at Bethpage Black, with birdies on two of the tougher holes, Nos. 10 and 15. Hey, Big Ben should hold off changing his middle name to Crenshaw, but that’s not bad.