GREEN BAY – Green Bay Packers Chairman and CEO Mark Murphy is among NFL executives who have donated money to a political action committee that promotes the league’s interests.

Murphy’s $5,000 contribution was among donations that surfaced during an investigation into whether NFL owners gave to PACs and candidates this election cycle. Murphy is not an owner – the Packers are publicly owned – but he is Green Bay’s equivalent.

Among NFL owners tracked by USA TODAY Sports, about 1 in 5 have not donated a dollar to federal candidates or causes so far this election cycle — though some members of that group may have donated at the state or local level. . Another quarter was donated just to the Gridiron PAC, a political action committee founded by NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell in 2008 to promote the league’s interests on Capitol Hill. Murphy was among the latter.

Murphy declined to comment Thursday.

USA TODAY’s Tom Schad wrote this NFL owners have donated at least $28 million to federal political candidates and causes during the 2023-24 election cycle — a significant amount that, according to USA TODAY Sports research, marked a seven-fold increase over the amount spent during the same time period four years ago.

Mark and Laurie Murphy are no strangers to charitable giving. They donated $100,000 to a Milwaukee Public Schools Foundation Inc. campaign. in 2020 to provide internet access to students and their families. They also gave $50,000 each We all stand up Green Bay, Urban Triage in Madison and Brown gourd in Milwaukee.

Also in 2020, Murphys donated $240,000 to the COVID-19 relief efforts in Brown and Door counties.

The Packers, as an organization, remain neutral when it comes to politics. When vice presidential candidate Tim Walz visited Lambeau Field during a campaign stop, he was given a courtesy tour of the facility, as many celebrities would be given. In the past, politicians Ted Cruz, Paul Ryan and former President George W. Bush have received tours.

But political candidates are not invited to the “owners” box during games, nor are they allowed to hold political events on Packers property, which could imply approval from the organization.

Elected officials attend events at Lambeau Field that are not political, such as when Goodell visited to promote the NFL draft to be hosted by Green Bay April 24-26, 2025, and Gov. Tony Evers was in attendance.

Contact Richard Ryman at [email protected]. Follow him on Twitter at @RichRymanPG, on Instagram at @rrymanPG or on Facebook at www.facebook.com/RichardRymanPG.

This article originally appeared in the Green Bay Press-Gazette: Packers’ Murphy gives to NFL PAC, but not to political campaigns