For as long as I can remember, I've been watching Cleveland Browns football. One of my first memories was on Christmas morning (I may have been 3 or 4 years old), when I received a Browns replica jersey. That jersey was the first real gift I can remember having an attachment with. Fast-forward to today, at age 32, married with a 2 year old, and another baby on the way, I'm a first year season ticket holder for the Browns. Prior to this year, I'd been to some games since the Browns return in 1999, and I'd even attended some games at the old Municipal Stadium. My Uncle was a season ticket holder until recently, which afforded me the luxury to go. Well, I'm 3 games into my tenure as a season ticket holder, and I've had some time (in between bad stretches of football) to soak in the atmosphere at the stadium, and really listen to what the fans have to say. You definitely have to sift through a lot of lip service. Everyone's the best quarterback, head coach, and coordinators. I'm fortunate b/c the section we sit in is filled with long-time season ticket holders, who for the most part, don't make a scene, and understand how the game is played. By nature, I'm a people watcher, so I've decided to share some observations. My friend Marty, who is a part of our group of 4, warned me before the season started. "You'll reach a new level of frustration now that you're vested financially in the Browns". Well, as a paying season ticket holder, I've got a few suggestions for my hometown team.
1. Change the Game Day Experience- We park a little over a mile away from the stadium (hey, it's free, so I'm not complaining), and we pass several parking lots on our way to the stadium. You know what else we pass? Bars, Restaurants, and popular landmarks in the city of Cleveland. Everyone who's ever attended a pro football game understands that tailgating will be prominent. If you don't have a van that you've converted into a Browns-mobile, or a portable charcoal grill to roast some brats on, or a group of guys to to play a 7-on-7 touch football game, there's not much for you to experience downtown. The Muny lot is more of a problem, then an experience. Sure, it's a great time, and you're going to see some crazy stuff in there, but it actually keeps people out of the stadium for parts of the first quarter (in most instances, over half of the first quarter). Playing at home in the National Football League is supposed to provide an advantage for one team. In most cases, the atmosphere at kickoff is very average. People are still filling in, waiting in line at the restrooms, or grabbing food.
I arrive in the stadium on an average of 80 minutes before each game. We watch warm-ups, and get ready for the game. While I know I'm in the minority on this type of approach (I can tell by the stadium being over 85% empty, plus I can still get cell phone service), there really isn't any incentive for fans to arrive early. No activities outside the stadium, and little going on inside the stadium. The fans are down there early, they line up at 6 am, to get in their spot for tailgating, so the experience needs to reach out and appeal to them. We've got all that lakefront property down there, so let's do something more with it than the Great Lakes Science Center and the Rock Hall.
2. Hire Some Engaged Staff- Gotta say that this is the most disappointing part of the stadium experience. Walking up to the stadium, there's no momentum, no pomp and circumstance that taps you on the shoulder and says "You're almost there, get ready to have your face melted off!". As you get closer to the gates, the employees are like robots, no one out there hocking programs, no merchandise stands (hey, there's valuable real estate out there!), no live music. No one is smiling, no one is driving any excitement there. Inside, it's worse. The ushers are oblivious to everything that's going on (including fans puking, which is a whole different issue). You get scolded for standing too much, and there is nothing to get the fans jacked up on 3rd downs, so they in turn can make life miserable for the opposing offense, and give the home defense an extra lift. Even the acoustics inside the stadium are barely audible. Everyone seems content on doing what they've always done. It's got a 1980's feel down there, with the exception of the team performing on the field and fueling the excitement. The fans share some of this burden also, as many are too drunk to pay attention to what's going on, or have enough energy to cheer. It's all about where and when the next beer will be served.
3. Better Communication From the Front Office to the Fan base- I really struggled with putting this one out there, but I've gotten the vibe, more so from past executive groups, that they view the fans as a bunch of suckers. We'll pay money, no matter what the product on the field looks like. You know, that might have been the case for a while (a long while), but those times are changing. People are frustrated with group, after group, after group coming into this town, taking a boatload of owner Randy Lerner's money (mostly b/c he doesn't know any better), and leaving the house a bigger mess than it was when they arrived. What Eric Mangini did to this team was inexcusable. Ego, lack of accountability on his position, and a blatant disrespect to the fans and media in this town by withholding information like he's the head of the FBI. As for Randy Lerner, where the hell is he? Some of you might be saying "Now Tom, you don't want an owner that meddles around in everyone's business". I'm not asking for that. I'm asking for presence. Make yourself visible, show everyone that you're not just some rich guy that loves soccer. Go to the games, give people the impression that you have a stake in this, that you want to see it turn around, that this is your team, and if things don't change, then you'll swing the accountability hammer. If I'm getting paid 50 million dollars over 5 years, you better believe my boss is going to want to see if his investment is working out. How many former head coaches are we still paying now, anyways?
This town needs to be handled differently. It doesn't matter how you handled relations in Seattle, or Green Bay, or Philadelphia. This fan base is starving. We need to know what's going on, and that means you're going to have to face the fire sometimes. That's the nature of this town. We've watched too many "experts" come in here, with their grand plan for success, and no one knows anything about it except them. Then draft day or free agency comes, and we're all left scratching our heads. How's that whole "let's keep this a secret" thing worked out for us?
4. Enclose the stadium- Why have an open air stadium? So we have an advantage when the weather changes? The weather doesn't drastically change around here until late December. If that's going to be your plan for advantage, then you better be playing games in January. I'm sorry, this is the NFL, everyone can play in any weather condition. A retractable roof would be awesome in this city. Open when the weather is nice, closed when the weather is bad. Worried about cost? How do cities like Indianapolis (NFL), Milwaukee (MLB), and Detroit (NFL) get them? You got to look at the upside; it'll hold noise in much better, it improves the experience, and you just might be in the running to host a Super Bowl one day. With the new casino coming, new hotels will be going up, and extra revenue will be coming into the city. It makes sense, it's always made sense for the amount of inclement weather we experience here. Forget the outside advantage, b/c there isn't one. Besides, we are running the west coast offense now, and smash mouth football is a thing of the past.
5. Find the Franchise Player...and Don't Miss on Him- While the above reasons are just one man's opinion, and some of you will turn your nose up at me, all while thinking "this guy is living a pipe dream", but the biggest reason that you all can't argue with me is the product that's put on the field each week for us to get behind. The fortunes of any franchise usually begin and end where games are won; with personnel on the field. Does a great ownership group help? Yep. Do you need the right head coach? Sure. But, if you look at any struggling franchise, it usually turns around the quickest when upgrades are made to the roster. Manning in Indianapolis, Brady in New England, Vick in Atlanta, Favre in Green Bay, I could list plenty of examples of teams that found their cornerstone, locked them up, and have never looked back since. How much does one franchise player mean? Ask the Indianapolis Colts. Biggest example for CLE fans to hang on? LeBron James. No one has criticized him more than me in this type of forum, but let's be honest, until LeBron James came around, we were all hoping for Larry Nance, Mark Price, Brad Daugherty, and "Hot Rod" Williams to come riding in to the Q and save the Cavs from more than just those ugly uniforms. Look at what happened with LeBron- the uniforms changed, the arena started selling out, merchandise sales went through the roof, the Cavs logo was recognized around the WORLD, and most importantly, the team was winning...a lot. We all say now that we're glad LeBron left, but are we really better off for it? Dan Gilbert was able to re-vamp the entire arena and the game day experience, largely in part because of ONE player. What's he selling now? Team? Commitment? It certainly isn't tickets.
TR
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