Eighteen years ago, on Sept. 9, 2006, I walked into the Green Bay Packers ticket office to do a story on the most legendary waiting list in all of sports.
When talking to Mark Wagner, who had managed the ticket office since 1977, I asked him how long it would take if I signed up today to get my tickets. His answer: Why don't we find out?
And thus I began a lifelong project.
That day, I signed up behind Packers fans who were putting their baby boy, who they had brought in a stroller, on the list.
My number?
73,257.
On Monday, I got my annual postcard in the mail: 49,973!
I had moved 23,284 spots in 18 years, for an average of 1,294 spots per year.
In 39 years, at the ripe old age of 85, I should be getting my season tickets after a 57-year wait, right?
Well, not exactly. We'll get to that.
When people sign up for the Packers waiting list, they often do so after reading the stories of people who recently got off the list.
Take, for example, Kyle Cousineau.
Cousineau, a bike kid at Lambeau Field for training camp, signed up in July 1994 at the age of 14. This year, at 44, Cousineau became a season ticket holder.
The wait is 30 years if you signed up in 1994. If you signed up after 1997, you aren't getting tickets in your lifetime.
Why?
The Packers won Super Bowl XXXI in January 1997 and that's when the list really ballooned.
Despite the appearance of 1,300 people getting off the list each year, the actual number is around 300. The average was messed up in 2013 when the Packers added 6,700 seats to Lambeau.
At 300 names a year, that puts my wait at an additional 166 years.
I’m hoping Darren Rovell IV is a Packers fan.
Here's a snapshot of my spot through the years:
- 2006: 73,257
- 2011: 68,467
- 2015: 60,766
- 2022: 53,480
- 2023: 51,326
- 2024: 49,973
Darren Rovell is the founder of cllct.com and one of the country's leading reporters on the collectible market. He previously worked for ESPN, CNBC and The Action Network.