It’s hard to believe it, but December 18th marks three decades since the Green Bay Packers last played a game in Milwaukee. For younger generations, it may be hard to believe that the Packers played in the city at all.
The idea of playing home games in Milwaukee first came to the Packers organization back in 1933, in an effort to drum up support for the team throughout the state. Being in Milwaukee also meant more revenue for the Packers, who were struggling to draw crowds two hours north of the city. While they initially bounced around in Milwaukee, hosting games at Borchert Field on the North Side to Wisconsin State Fair Park, the team landed on the newly-opened Milwaukee County Stadium in 1953 as the site of their Milwaukee home games, and would host a portion of their games there up until the final game, on December 18th, 1994.
At the time of its construction, Milwaukee County Stadium had twice the seating capacity of City Stadium, the then-home of the Packers in Green Bay. The NFL was actually pressuring the team to move or build a new stadium at one point, and County Stadium was originally discussed as a new permanent home for the green and gold, to go along with an MLB team, which the city was able to secure when the Boston Braves moved to Milwaukee. Instead of a full-time move, the Packers opted to build New City Stadium, which we all know as Lambeau Field.
During their tenure in Milwaukee, the Packers held an exclusive lease on football games at the stadium. That proved to be beneficial in 1965, when the city explored the idea of an AFL expansion franchise, until Vince Lombardi signed an extension to keep the team in Milwaukee for multiple games per season through 1976. The merger between the AFL and NFL killed off any chance of a Milwaukee franchise, as well. The Brewers also squashed plans for a Canadian Football League franchise to play in Milwaukee once the Packers played their final game at County Stadium in 1994. The idea was floated, even though the field dimensions would have made it impossible for a larger CFL field to fit within the seating bowl.
125 regular season games were played at Milwaukee County Stadium from 1953-1994, with the Packers holding a 75-47-3 record at the ballpark. They also beat the Los Angeles Rams in the only playoff game to be held at the stadium, winning 28-7 in 1967. The final game in 1994 was capped off by a nine-yard Brett Favre scramble for a touchdown to beat the Atlanta Falcons, 21-17.
While the Packers won’t be able to play football within American Family Field any time soon (due to the dimensions of the ballpark), it is fun to look back on this period of the NFL in Milwaukee. As mega stadiums continue to pop up all over the country, and multiple-use stadiums are increasingly becoming a thing of the past, the Green Bay Packers’ history will always have a connection to Milwaukee.
