GREEN BAY — If there was an applause line in Mark Murphy's podium spiel during Tuesday's annual shareholders meeting — since there were no bold pronouncements or guarantees that the Green Bay Packers will win Super Bowl 50 — it was when the team's president/CEO said this about the idea of selling the naming rights to Lambeau Field:

"We will never do that," Murphy told the crowd of roughly 12,000. "We will always be Lambeau Field."

Of course, Murphy, who turned 60 earlier this month, can only remain the Packers' president/CEO for another 10 years before reaching the team's mandatory retirement age, just as his predecessor, Bob Harlan, did. So in truth, he can only guarantee the Lambeau Field name for another decade.

But given that Harlan said basically the same thing as the team worked to have the venerable stadium renovated in the early 2000s, it's clear the club has no interest in selling the name of the stadium itself, a la the Minnesota Vikings' new stadium, U.S. Bank Stadium. [URL=https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_sports_venues_with_sole_naming_rights" target="_blank]Many, many professional and college teams play[/URL] at stadiums or in arenas named for companies, as it is a valuable revenue stream for clubs.

"Now I should say, I'm tying the hands of future leaders of the Packers when I say it will 'never' happen, but I don't think it makes any sense," Murphy said during a press conference following the meeting. "We have a number of benefits as an organization, but Lambeau Field is right near the top. It would really be a shame if the name was ever changed."

The topic came up when Murphy was praising the team's marketing and sales staff for selling the naming rights to the stadium's eight entrances. Those gates are sponsored by Shopko, Mills' Fleet Farm, American Family Insurance, the Oneida Nation, Miller Lite, Bellin Health, Associated Bank and Verizon Wireless.

However, Murphy did say that a company inquired about buying the stadium's naming rights a few years ago, something that he said does not happen very often.

"I don't know if it was a consultant or [what], [but] somebody approached me from a large corporation that would be interested in naming rights," Murphy said. "I said, 'Thanks, but no thanks. We have no interest.'"

Jason Wilde  wrote: