Venue Detail
Cleveland Browns
RSV Pro Facilities Report
March, 2015
Cleveland Browns
76 Lou Groza Blvd Berea, OH 44017 Phone: 440-891-5000 Fax: 440-891-5009 URL: www.clevelandbrowns.com Owner: Jimmy Haslam III and Randy Lerner League: National Football League, AFC North
Venue
FirstEnergy Stadium, 1085 W 3rd St, Cleveland, OH 44114 Owner: City of Cleveland Managed by: Team Built: 1999 Capacity: 65,000 Concessionaire: Aramark Soft drink: Pepsi Cola
Naming rights
Sold to: FirstEnergy Corp. Price: $102,000,000 Term: 17 years Expires: 2030
Ticket prices
Season tickets range from $190 to $850 Single tickets range from $35.00 to $310.00
Attendance
2012 average attendance: 66,632 2013 average attendance: 71,242 2014 average attendance: 67,425
Suites
Quantity: 147 Term: 4 to 10 years Price: $35,000 to $125,000 Seats: 10 to 20 Includes: Tickets, access to private restaurant and business center.
Club seats
Quantity: 8,600 Term: 5 to 10 years Price: $1,250 to $2,800
Financing
The stadium cost $280 million of which $72 million came from the Browns and $152 million came from the city. Another $37 million was contributed by the state. The NFL financed the construction of the stadium until the team was purchased.
Seat licenses
Prices range from $250 to $1,500 and PSL holders must buy season tickets, but get no priority to Super Bowl tickets or other stadium events. The first year in the new stadium, season ticket prices ranged from $300 to $2,350 for the club seats. Payment is taken over three years and ownership can be transferred. Transfers are only allowed once per season. The Browns offered long-time season ticket holders discounts on PSLs. Those with 30 or more years got a 50 percent discount and their choice of seats. Those with 20 to 29 years were given a 40 percent discount, those with 10 to 19 years got a 30 percent discount and those with 7 to 9 years 20 percent discount. A 15 percent discount went to those with 4 to 6 years as season ticket holders. Lastly, any previous season ticket holder got a 10 percent discount.
Cleveland taxpayers will be kicking in $2 million in each of the next 15 years toward the $120 million cost of improvements at FirstEnergy Stadium under a tentative agreement reached in 2013 between the city and the Cleveland Browns.
The Browns are paying up front the entire cost of the renovations. The true cost of the city's contribution is estimated at $22 million, not $30 million, because the money is being committed at the present-day value of the dollar.
In the first year, the Browns would install two high-definition scoreboards that are nearly triple the size of those currently in the stadium. The proposal also calls for LED video boards, which would show stats, scores and other information. A new audio system will replace the original one, promising to deliver dramatically improved sound stadium-wide.
The stadium would lose about 3,000 seats to make way for the giant scoreboard -- dropping capacity to about 68,000. But about 2,000 upper-bowl seats will move to the lower deck, giving more fans a chance to sit closer to the action, he said. The historic Dawg Pound fan section in the lower bowl will remain as it always has, though a handful of seats considered part of the upper Dawg Pound will be lost.
Fans also will see two new escalators, improving access to upper levels.
In 2015, the Browns plan on improving general-admission concession areas, with locally-based offerings. So-called "premium areas" of the stadium would see upgrades, as well, including refurbished club seats and suites and more top-level entertainment.
The Browns played their first season in the NFL in 1999 in the new stadium built on the city's lakefront. The team was purchased in September 1998 by Alfred Lerner for $530 million -- the highest price ever paid for an NFL team until the Redskins were sold. Of that, $54 million went back to the NFL to pay for stadium construction. The team was sold again in 2012 to Jimmy Haslam who bought 70 percent of the franchise.
Naming rights were sold in 2013 to FirstEnergy. Corp. and details were not disclosed, but later reports put the price at $102 million over 17 years.
Lerner said he wanted a quality stadium and immediately began looking at other facilities to see what amenities should be added to the stadium. He also agreed to help pay for those additions. As part of the design, the field was constructed to allow soccer, should the city acquire an MLS or other franchise in the future. (Facilities, Football, NFL, Professional Sports, Venue)