Ed Policy, CEO of the Green Bay Packers, joins Brad to discuss how tech is reshaping the game of football, the NFL, and driving economic growth beyond Lambeau Field.
From chalkboards to tablets, technology has transformed the NFL. In this episode, Ed Policy, president and CEO of the Green Bay Packers, joins Brad to explore how digital tools on the sidelines and innovation hubs like TitletownTech are reshaping the game and driving economic growth beyond Lambeau Field. From growing up in an Ohio football family to steering a uniquely community-owned franchise into the future, it's a conversation about leadership, tech, and purpose in a changing world. Ed also shares the three principles guiding every decision: win football games, keep the Packers in Green Bay, and strengthen the community.
ED POLICY
I spent a lot of time just trying to distill, why are the Packers here? What’s our purpose, so that every decision that we make, everything that we choose to do or choose not to do, would be looked at through the lenses of our purpose? And we did distill it down to three pretty simple things: win football games; keep the Packers in Green Bay; and strengthen our community.
BRAD VO:
That’s Ed Policy, president and CEO of the Green Bay Packers. Ed is leading one of the most iconic sports teams into a new era. We talk about his journey from growing up in a football family in Ohio, where leadership lessons were passed around the dinner table. And we talk about his taking the helm now, of a one-of-a-kind, community-owned, professional sports franchise. We explore the evolution of technology in the NFL. From the sidelines of Lambeau Field where coaches have traded in chalkboards for digital devices, to Titletown Tech – a hub, driving economic growth just beyond the stadium’s walls. My conversation with Ed Policy,up next on Tools and Weapons.
BRAD SMITH: It is such a privilege for me to be back here, close to where I grew up, sitting in what I always feel is magical Lambeau Field in Green Bay, Wisconsin. Here you are, after having joined the Packers about 13 years ago. Now, you’re the president and the CEO. We’ll talk a little bit about football, and technology, and community. And I think there’s very few people who can knit that together better than you.
But let’s start with your background. You grew up in a football family. Your dad, Carmen Policy, was an NFL legend in the industry, so to speak, in its own right. What did you pick up from that as a kid?
ED POLICY: Yeah. Well, first, let me start by just saying thank you for coming back, Brad. It’s always such a treat for all of us in the building when you come back to Lambeau Field
But yeah, I grew up in Youngstown, Ohio, you know, kind of pretty similar to Green Bay, actually, in many respects. Most similar, it had an absolute love affair with the game of football.
And so, I grew up playing it from a very young age. And my dad was a trial attorney who just kind of fell into a role with the San Francisco 49ers when I was about eight years old. So, my father was in the NFL, primarily with the 49ers, and then later with the Cleveland Browns for, I believe, over 30 years. So, I got to grow up with it being kind of what we talked about at the dinner table every night.
BRAD SMITH: Are there any lessons that you picked up at the dinner table that stick with you today?
ED POLICY: So, they’re not just lessons from back then, but still lessons now. They’re kind of simple but profound, and I think they apply not only to the NFL, but to life in general. One thing that my dad was always adamant about, you know, you work in a stadium like this, and on game day, it’s full of people. And, you know, he always thought, you treat the guy selling popcorn with the same level of respect that you treat the commissioner if he’s in the building. And frankly, he also said, you demand the same from them. And – and I always thought that was pretty important.
BRAD SMITH: In a way, it does speak to life in Green Bay, Wisconsin, and I think there is that respect, I’ll just say, for everybody in the community. The Packers literally are unique in the world of professional sports in the United States, perhaps the world. Say a little bit about what it means to have the kind of community ownership system you have here for the Packers.
ED POLICY: We are truly unique. We’re one of one, and I think it is international. I don’t think it’s just in the United States. So, we are publicly owned, and we’re owned by – I believe we have over five million shares held by a little over half a million shareholders right now, but our stock certificates -- they have no economic value whatsoever. They’re – they’re – they’re priceless, you know, in terms of pride and in terms of what they represent and that person’s support of our organization.
So, they are a stock, but they’re not a security. They can’t be sold; they can’t be traded. The only way that you can transfer them to somebody is maybe the immediate family member, and if you do that, you have to ask for our permission. If I’m not mistaken, I think you might be a shareholder.
BRAD SMITH: I am a shareholder, and I – I can tell you there were days when, you know, Paul Allen was alive, you know. And he’s co-founder of Microsoft, and, you know, Paul was the owner of the Seattle Seahawks. And I could say, well, you know, “I’m – I’m one of the owners of the Green Bay Packers. There’s just a half a million of us rather than one.”
ED POLICY: Well, and you’re technically my boss, too.
BRAD SMITH: (Laughter.) Yeah, a tiny bit.
ED POLICY: It’s a very unique structure. I see it as a- when the NFL first started, and when teams were losing money, it was a distinct competitive disadvantage. There were a number of times when the organization ran out of money and we had to raise more shares. And again, people knowingly were buying a piece of paper that had no economic value, but they wanted to support the team, and they were not going to let the Green Bay Packers ever leave Green Bay.
You know, you fast forward to today’s day and age where we you know, thankfully, we’re doing fine, and we’ve got enough money to – to keep the lights on around here. I think it’s a competitive advantage now, though, because we’re – we’re able to really just hire professional management and let them manage professionally.
BRAD SMITH: Yeah.
ED POLICY: Without a – you know, without an owner, kind of, and – and sometimes an owner's family, really making all the decisions.
BRAD SMITH: And you make these decisions with the eye of winning on the football field but ensuring that the Packers are what they have become, which is sort of an engine for a source of pride for the state, but an engine of the Green Bay economy. And I still remember that trip in 2016, we were over at a window looking out of the stadium across the street at what, at that point, was still mostly a parking lot. There had been strip malls, and you turned it into something called Titletown. Of course, people have long said Green Bay is “Titletown,” but you made it something different. Tell us about that vision that you had.
ED POLICY: Sure. Well, you know, I’m even going to back up. You had kind of talked a little bit about the purpose of the Packers, you know, and it is primarily – in fact, we had a long transition. You certainly knew and were good friends with my – my predecessor, Mark Murphy. You know, Mark was still the president for a year after I had been named, which gave us a long time to really think about what might be different, or how I might manage things in a – in a slightly different way.
And I spent a lot of time with Mark and with a lot of our senior staff, just trying to distill: why are the Packers here? What’s our purpose, so that every decision that we make, everything that we choose to do or choose not to do, would be looked at through the lenses of our purpose? And we did distill it down to three pretty simple things: Win football games; keep the Packers in Green Bay; and strengthen our community. And really, I think Titletown falls into the last two of those categories, but everything we do is going to – is going to be in furtherance of one, two or three things.
When I got here in 2012, the Packers had acquired a few pieces of land just west of the stadium right over here. Over time, we started to buy a little bit more, and we thought, okay, maybe we should develop something over here. And as we were doing that and buying land, we had – we had plenty of time. So, Mark and I commissioned an economic study of the entire region. And it was actually written by a very smart economist at University of Michigan, Dr. Rosentraub. And it was kind of complicated.
So, I said, “Mark, it was long. I read it all. Let me distill it down to three things for you.”
ow, keep in mind, this is in 2012, so we were all just kind of kind of coming out of the Great Recession.
BRAD SMITH: Yeah.
ED POLICY: And number one was that the Green Bay economy, or the Brown County and – and the regional economy is actually in pretty good shape. Number two takeaway was perhaps not for long. And the number three takeaway was that the Packers could do something about that.
So that first takeaway, Green Bay was in pretty good shape. The – the numbers really showed that Green Bay had weathered the Great Recession better than most places. The challenge was, number two, perhaps not for long, because there was a scary trend that had been happening for a num – a number of years of just our young, talented people leaving our community, going elsewhere to start their careers and ultimately, start their families, and very few of them coming back.
And then number three was that, especially with these newly acquired real estate assets, the Packers could do something about that. What could we do to – to – to maintain and attract young, talented people to Green Bay? And we started to think about, how do we turn that 55 acres over there into a collection of social and economic amenities that just don’t exist in this region right now?
Now, the social ones were kind of fun. You know, that’s where we ended up with an ice-skating rink –
BRAD SMITH: Right.
ED POLICY: – and a brewery, and, you know, the – the nicest hotel in town, and, you know, a sled-riding hill and things of that nature, and a beautiful park that’s programmed year-round with yoga classes and line dancing and all kinds of fun things. But the economic amenities are a little bit harder and required a little bit more thought, because we can give all these young people cool things to do on the weekends and the evenings, but they’ve got to have a job during the day, and they’ve got to have a way to fulfill their dreams and their passions and – and provide for their family. And so, we started working on a concept called “Titletown Ventures.”
BRAD SMITH: Oh, yeah.
ED POLICY: And it was going to be a – really, just a rudimentary startup fund, somewhat of a venture capital fund, coupled with an innovation lab. And it kind of launched into a whole new level at that point.
BRAD SMITH: Yeah. Well, and I remember, of course, that visit in 2016, I came, a few folks came out from Redmond, Washington. We sat down, really chatted with you and Mark. And the idea, or the question was, what might we do together? And it was that conversation that helped spark what became Titletown Tech.
It has really taken off, not just as a – it is a startup fund. It is in the – a venture fund, but it’s really accelerating – as an accelerator, and has extended even to Milwaukee.
What do you see? What stands out to you that is the most remarkable this number of years later?
ED POLICY: The first fund was 20 or –
BRAD SMITH: $25 million.
ED POLICY: $25 million.
BRAD SMITH: Yeah.
ED POLICY: And, you know, now we launched the second fund with a total of $95 million under management. So, the fact that it’s grown, and can’t tell you how much we appreciate you guys being with us every step of the way and overdelivering every commitment you’ve ever made over there. So, the fact that it’s grown as much as it has, and then I think – I – I can’t remember how many – I think there’s over 35 portfolio companies.
BRAD SMITH: Yeah.
ED POLICY: But what I’m really proud of is how many of those companies have relocated or decided to start here in Green Bay, Wisconsin. I mean, to me, that’s really exciting. We’ve got families who have moved here from Denver, from Arizona, from all over the place, you know, to be a part of our community, to fulfill their dreams of owning and starting up their own company. So, I – I think that’s really exciting.
BRAD SMITH: A couple of the other aspects have always been, I think, real sources of pride for us at Microsoft. One was of that first $25 million, the Packers put in $5 million, Microsoft put in $5 million. That grew to 10 each for the second round, but we pledged that we would take whatever returns came back to us and invest them in community activities, rather than, you know, profits from – for our firms.
Another part of the vision that I remember you and Mark and I and others, Craig Dickman, who leads the fund, sketching out on a whiteboard in a conference room at Microsoft, which was -- not only helped startups grow, but take technology and bring it to local manufacturers and others.
And I was able to walk through on the floor this morning in Racine of a company called Wiscon Products. They make parts for all kinds of things. They were one of the first participants in what we launched a year and a half ago, the AI Co-Innovation Lab in Milwaukee, the University of Wisconsin, Milwaukee. And they’re taking AI and really transforming how they do manufacturing.
I encourage people from all across the country, sometimes around the world, to, you know, visit Green Bay, even if there’s not a football game –
ED POLICY: Right.
BRAD SMITH: – to go visit Titletown Tech. Yeah, and it is changing the economy here.
ED POLICY: Yeah, it certainly is. Well, and again, I can’t thank you guys enough, because that scenario that you just described, you know, taking place right down the street a couple hours, that doesn’t happen, you know, in Wisconsin, seven, eight, ten years ago.
BRAD SMITH: That’s true. It – it is something that, again, another way the Packers, you know, have – have changed the state, and –
ED POLICY: Packers and Microsoft together.
BRAD SMITH: It’s been a great – an ongoing partnership.
ED POLICY: Right.
BRAD SMITH: Now, technology has been reshaping the NFL and football. How do you think about the role of technology in professional football?
ED POLICY: Well, technology has changed every element of professional – every element of life, but certainly, every element of professional football. One of the – the most important things for the NFL over, I’d say, a long time, but in particular for the last 15 years, is the health and safety of our players. We have so many different kinds of helmets now that never existed even 10 years ago, that are really cutting down on the number of concussions that players sustain, and really giving us a better, you know, ability to detect concussions, even.
Maybe even the way it’s coached. You know, the Microsoft Surface tablet is now an integral part of our sidelines for every team in the NFL. I remember when I was a kid going to 49ers or Browns games, and you know, you’d have guys, just sweaty old coaches yelling and trying to scribble things on a whiteboard or around a chalkboard or something like that. And only half the guys could see them, so they’d have to hold them up and show them to everybody.
Now we have tablets where you can have four different views of the play viewed – as soon as the quarterback comes off the field, four different views of the play viewed with the coach from upstairs, kind of having drawn on it and showed, you know, where things are. He can replay, go back and forward, just so many different things that you could never do back then.
I do have a challenge for you, though, Brad.
BRAD SMITH: Yeah?
ED POLICY: And what we really need is a linebacker-proof tablet – (laughter) – because even our – even our former quarterback, who was one of – one of the greatest players to ever play the game, one of the most passionate players, if he saw something he didn’t like on that tablet, it might meet the ground quick.
BRAD SMITH: That’s made – some of those have gone viral over the years. Let me put it that way, yes. (Laughter.)
ED POLICY: I don’t know. Do you guys pay for those, or do we pay for those?
BRAD SMITH: I hope you do. But I don’t know. (Laughter ) But it is – it’s been a great partnership for Microsoft and the entire NFL. And part of what it does give us, not to undercut our argument to get paid for them, is we learn from it, you know, from all of the experiences. And yeah, I just think what you all are doing with technology is, in part, it’s that sideline experience, the planning, the feedback in real time, but it’s the use of data for everything.
ED POLICY: Right.
BRAD SMITH: And, you know, you were referring before. It’s just player health and safety, which I also think is probably extended to training, diet, and just –
ED POLICY: There’s even one of the companies that we’re developing just across the street here in Titletown Tech, Springbok is another company that we’ve used. What it does, and I hope I do an adequate job explaining it – essentially, it’ll turn a two-dimensional MRI into a three-dimensional image.
And so, I know that, you know, our trainers and doctors are using it with our players to really help to predict when, let’s say, a linebacker’s quad or hamstring, might be getting close to too much fatigue and therefore, closer to sustaining an injury, or for just diagnosis and things like that.
So, it’s, you know, frankly, not even just things on the field. But if you look at all the other stuff that goes on around this building, on game day, it’s incredible, the number of staff that we need to serve all the beers and hot dogs –
BRAD SMITH: Yeah.
ED POLICY: – and peanuts and popcorn. In order to staff up for game day, we are using a company called Crew that is also out of Titletown Tech to help us, you know, come up with the staff that we and our concessionaires need from not just week to week, but certainly game to game.
BRAD SMITH: I know it’s always harder to look to the future than, you know, think about the insights from the past, but if you think about the decade ahead, you think about, you know, your stewardship of this wonderful franchise, whether it’s the experience of viewing a game from home, being in the stadium, being a player, working here, do you have any thoughts about where technology may take all of that?
ED POLICY: I think what you guys do will take it further than my imagination ever could. You know, I’ve thought, are we ever going to have – you know, you and I could be sitting around in a living room, and little holograms of the players will be running around here. (Laughter.)
BRAD SMITH: Yeah.
ED POLICY: And we can just watch the game almost in a three dimensional- which would make these tickets less valuable. So, I hope that doesn’t happen.
But no, I – I just think the viewing experience is going to continue to get better and better at home. I think, you know, certain elements will never be taken over. I don’t – you know, I – I would never like to see a computer calling plays.
BRAD SMITH: Yeah, that’s –
ED POLICY: I think having people who understand the game and the emotion of the game and the emotion of the men who are coming and going on the sidelines, and the – the momentum that takes place, I – I – you know, I think humans will have to do that.
There is even a new development that I will admit I’m struggling with. You know, for over 100 years, to get a first down in football, you have to get 10 yards? For over 100 years, you – you know how that was measured, right? Two men with bright sticks –
BRAD SMITH: Right.
ED POLICY: – and a chain that’s exactly 10 yards in between them to measure it. Finally, somebody figured out, maybe there’s a, you know, higher – higher technology that could determine what 10 yards is. (Laughter) And so, now they’re doing that digitally, and this is the first year they’ve ever done it. And I found myself really missing – I’m a bit of a romantic – but I’m really missing just two guys running out onto the field and measuring with the chain.
But yeah, it’s – it’s changing rapidly. Again, the ones I’m most excited about are probably the – the health and safety advances that we’re going to get. I mean, the more that you guys can develop that will help us predict and prevent injuries, I think that’s some of the most critical stuff. And frankly, even the ways that you can help us and our consumers really consume our game, because that’s changed drastically. You and I probably both remember watching games even on black and white TVs, or –
BRAD SMITH: Yep.
ED POLICY: – you know, certainly well before HD. And, you know, now, if you look at some of the TVs, they’re – they’re massive and they’re so clear, it’s also forced our officials to up their game a little bit, because everybody at home can now see if somebody caught the ball or dropped the ball or stepped off sides or didn’t.
BRAD SMITH: Because it changes the viewing experience, it changes the officiating experience, and that, obviously, impacts the playing experience.
Just to sort of conclude where we started. If you look at the connection to Titletown Tech and the economy of northeastern Wisconsin, this is a region that also just has a lot of great expertise in healthcare. So, you have this focus here where, you know, healthcare is just taken to an extraordinary degree to sustain the health of people, as they are playing in such a challenging sport.
But at Titletown Tech, a lot of what’s coming out is really starting, I think, to offer potential game-changing, so to speak, benefits for people everywhere. You suddenly see these startups with technology that can change the experience of being a patient in a rural community, having a room with a screen that connects with a doctor a thousand miles away, and yet feels so much more personal than – and helpful than what was there before.
Through that power of technology, I think the Packers have a real opportunity. We have a real opportunity together to extend the reach of everything that you’re pursuing.
ED POLICY: No question. Even with the technology you just described, you know, you can really get the same level of healthcare, oftentimes with the same providers in Green Bay that you could get in New York City or Boston or San Francisco.
BRAD SMITH: Yeah, it is exciting, and I am very happy that I took that trip and came here in 2016, the opportunities we’ve had to pursue things together. Titletown and Titletown Tech have gone from vision to reality, and we’re hoping that this is another year when the Green Bay Packers are in the hunt for the Super Bowl.
ED POLICY: No, well, Brad, thank you so much for all your support over the years. Thank you for your friendship and go Pack.
BRAD SMITH: Go Pack. Go, Pack, go (laughter) – to be precise.
ED POLICY: Go, Pack, go.
BRAD SMITH: Thank you.