FirstEnergy Stadium (Cleveland)

FirstEnergy Stadium

Interior and exterior views in 2015
FirstEnergy Stadium Location in the United States
Former names	Cleveland Browns Stadium (1999–2013)
Location	100 Alfred Lerner Way Cleveland, Ohio 44114
Coordinates	41°30′22″N 81°41′58″W / 41.50611°N 81.69944°WCoordinates: 41°30′22″N 81°41′58″W / 41.50611°N 81.69944°W
Public transit	West 3rd Station Cleveland Lakefront Station
Owner	City of Cleveland
Operator	Cleveland Browns
Capacity	73,200 (1999–2014) 67,431 (2014–present)
Record attendance	73,718 (November 3, 2002 vs. Steelers)
Surface	Kentucky Bluegrass[1]
Construction
Broke ground	May 15, 1997
Opened	September 12, 1999
Construction cost	$283 million ($402 million in 2016 dollars[2])[3]
Architect	HOK Sport (now Populous)[4] Robert P. Madison International, Inc.[5] Ralph Tyler Companies[6]
Project manager	The Project Group[7]
Structural engineer	Osborn Engineering[8]
Services engineer	URS Corporation[9]
General contractor	Huber, Hunt & Nichols
Tenants
Cleveland Browns (NFL) (1999–present)

FirstEnergy Stadium, officially FirstEnergy Stadium, Home of the Cleveland Browns and previously known as Cleveland Browns Stadium, is a multi-purpose stadium in Cleveland, Ohio, United States. It is the home field of the Cleveland Browns of the National Football League, and serves as a venue for other events such as college and high school football games, soccer games, and concerts. It opened in 1999 and is located in Downtown Cleveland at North Coast Harbor, adjacent to the Great Lakes Science Center and the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. The stadium sits on 31 acres (13 ha) of land between Lake Erie and the Cleveland Memorial Shoreway, previously the site of Cleveland Municipal Stadium from 1932–1996. From the stadium's opening until 2014, the seating capacity was listed at 73,200. The first phase of a two-phase renovation project completed between the 2013 and 2014 seasons reduced the seating capacity to 67,431.^[10]

History

FirstEnergy Stadium sits on the former site of Cleveland Municipal Stadium, which was the team's home for 49 years. The stadium was built after Browns owner Art Modell relocated to Baltimore and formed the Baltimore Ravens from the personnel of the Browns. As part of the deal with the National Football League to reactivate the Browns, the city of Cleveland tore down Cleveland Municipal Stadium after the 1996 season to make room for the new facility. Debris from the former stadium was submerged in Lake Erie and now serves as an artificial reef.

Ground was broken on May 15, 1997, and the stadium opened in July 1999. The first event was a preseason game between the Browns and the Minnesota Vikings on August 21, followed the next week by a preseason game between the Browns and Chicago Bears. The first regular-season Browns game at the stadium was played the evening of September 12, 1999, a 43–0 loss to the Pittsburgh Steelers.^[11]

Since 2011, the stadium has been referred to by some as the "Factory of Sadness", a name that was first coined by comedian and Browns fan Mike Polk in a video he made in which he complains about the team's futility.^[12] Through the 2015 season, FirstEnergy Stadium is the only current NFL venue that has yet to host a postseason game of any kind. The Browns are one of four teams who have yet to host a home playoff game in their respective stadium, along with the San Francisco 49ers, Detroit Lions, and New York Jets. The latter three teams, however, have hosted the Super Bowl at their respective stadium, while the Jets' home, MetLife Stadium, has also hosted a New York Giants home playoff game.

Facility

Drew Carey preparing for a TV broadcast at the stadium's dedication in September 1999

The stadium was designed by the Sport Division of Hellmuth, Obata & Kassabaum (HOK), which is now known as Populous. Indianapolis-based Huber, Hunt & Nichols was the construction manager. The stadium is a concrete and glass structure, using precast concrete and cast in-place for the upper concourse. Natural stone accents were used at the base of the stadium. The construction of the concrete superstructure took more than 6000 truckloads of concrete, or the equivalent of 60,000 cubic yards (46,000 m³), with a weight of approximately 235,000,000 pounds (107,000,000 kg).

The playing surface is a Kentucky Bluegrass irrigated field, with a sand-soil root zone and an underground heating system that involves nine boilers and 40 miles of underground piping. The heating system prevents the field from freezing and extends the growing season of the turf.^[1] Although it was designed for football, the playing surface was built large enough to accommodate international soccer matches.

The eastern seating section is the home of the Dawg Pound, a section of 10,644 bleacher seats whose occupants are commonly regarded as some of the most passionate in football. It is similar to the original Dawg Pound in Cleveland Municipal Stadium, although the new iteration contains two levels of bleachers instead of one.

Renovations

In 2013, Browns owner Jimmy Haslam announced a modernization project for FirstEnergy Stadium. The project included two phases that took place during the NFL offseasons in 2014 and 2015.^[13] Phase one included improving the audio system, installing new scoreboards three times the size of the original scoreboards and 4th largest in a NFL stadium, and adding more seats to the lower bowl.^[14] Phase two included concession improvements, upgrades to technology connectivity, graphics throughout the stadium, and enhancing the premium suites. The renovations reduced the stadium's capacity to approximately 68,000.^[15] The total cost of the renovations was estimated at $120 million with the city of Cleveland paying $30 million over 15 years and the Browns covering the rest of the cost.^[16]

Stadium naming

The city specifically chose not to sell the naming rights to the stadium itself, which is highly unusual for major American stadiums built in recent years. However, it instead sold the naming rights to each of the facility's four entrance gates. Originally, the gates were named for National City Bank, Steris Corp., CoreComm Inc., and the Cleveland Clinic Sports Health.^[17] The arrangement was later discontinued, and gates names are now simply intermediate directions where the stadium's gates are located.

In August 2012, Randy Lerner sold the Browns to Jimmy Haslam, CEO of truck stop chain Pilot Flying J. Before the deal officially closed in October 2012, Haslam announced he would sell the stadium's naming rights. Haslam effectively ruled out his family business as buying the naming rights, mentioning that he had received offers for the naming rights, and that none of them are based in his home state of Tennessee.^[18][19] On January 14, 2013, it was reported that the naming rights were sold to FirstEnergy Corporation, the Akron-based electric utility serving most of northeastern Ohio.^[20] The Browns announced the following day that the stadium would be renamed FirstEnergy Stadium, Home of the Cleveland Browns, with the deal getting official Cleveland City Council approval on February 15, 2013.^[21]

Services

The stadium does not have public parking facilities. However, there are several adjacent parking facilities: the Port Authority visitors lot, the West 3rd Street parking lot, and the Great Lakes Science Center parking garage. Additionally, the West 3rd Street station of Cleveland's Waterfront light rail line serves the stadium.

Operations

In addition to home games for the Browns, the stadium hosts other events during the year. The Ohio Classic college football game was held there in both 2004 and 2005. In September 2006, it hosted the Bowling Green Falcons-Wisconsin Badgers game. In 2007 it began hosting the Patriot Bowl,^[22] a season-opening game between Army and Akron. Boston College defeated Kent State in the second Patriot Bowl on August 30, 2008.^[23] In 2009, it hosted a game between the Ohio State Buckeyes and Toledo Rockets. While the game was considered a home game for Toledo, the crowd of 71,727 was mostly Ohio State fans.^[24][25]

It has hosted numerous high school football games, including playoff games of the Ohio High School Athletic Association (OHSAA) tournament.^[26] In June 2010, the Browns announced that four area powerhouses would play in doubleheader named the High School Football Charity Game. The games were played on August 28, 2010.^[27] The stadium also hosted a game between the United States and Venezuela in the run-up to the 2006 FIFA World Cup. It also hosted a women's soccer friendly game between the United States and Germany.

Gallery

Images of FirstEnergy Stadium
Entrance ramp of FirstEnergy Stadium. (now closed)  Satellite view of the stadium and North Coast Harbor.  View from the top row of the stadium.  View from the top row of the stadium during the National Anthem.

See also

• Chronology of home stadiums for current National Football League teams
• List of American football stadiums by capacity
• List of U.S. stadiums by capacity
• List of North American stadiums by capacity
• List of largest video screens

References

1. About the Stadium ClevelandBrowns.com (accessed July 11, 2010)
2. "Consumer Price Index (estimate) 1800–". Federal Reserve Bank of Minneapolis. Retrieved November 10, 2015.
3. "Cleveland Browns Stadium". Ballparks.com. Retrieved October 30, 2012.
4. Cleveland Browns Stadium architect, Populous
5. Cleveland Browns NFL Football Stadium - Robert P. Madison International, Inc.
6. Ralph Tyler - Cleveland Browns NFL Stadium
7. PC Sports
8. Osborn Engineering Co. - The Encyclopedia of Cleveland History
9. A strong local presence - BXMagazine.com Archived March 13, 2008, at the Wayback Machine.
10. 2015 Official NFL Record and Fact Book (PDF). National Football League. 2014. p. 58. Retrieved February 8, 2016.
11. "Cleveland Browns - 1999". Cleveland Browns. 2015. Retrieved December 9, 2015.
12. "Are Cleveland Browns fans at last growing weary of their NFL 'factory of sadness'?". The Plain Dealer. Cleveland.com. November 11, 2011. Retrieved December 1, 2015.
13. Retrieved March 2014 from http://www.firstenergystadiumproject.com
14. "Alec Scheiner Outlines FirstEnergy Stadium Renovation". Akron Beacon Journal. Retrieved June 18, 2014.
15. Retrieved March 2014 from http://www.cleveland.com/browns/index.ssf/2013/11/cleveland_browns_renovations_f.html
16. Retrieved March 2014 from http://www.cleveland.com/cityhall/index.ssf/2013/11/cleveland_city_council_approve_5.html
17. Mitchell, Eric (July 5, 1999). "Browns not selling stadium naming rights, but gates are another story". Sports Business Journal. Retrieved October 21, 2012.
18. "Pilot won't buy naming rights for FirstEnergy Stadium". Newsnet5.com. Retrieved October 19, 2012.
19. "UPDATE: Pilot Flying J's Haslam Buys Cleveland Browns". Cspnet.com. Retrieved October 19, 2012.
20. Associated Press (January 14, 2013). "Browns to sell stadium naming rights". ESPN.com. Retrieved January 15, 2013.
21. Naymik, Mark (March 8, 2013). "Browns owner Jimmy Haslam has spell over football fans and politicians alike". The Plain Dealer (Cleveland Live LLC). Retrieved May 6, 2013. Sweeney let the naming-rights deal pass on Feb. 15...
22. Patriot Bowl. Accessed 2007-06-03.
23. Blaudschun, Mark (August 31, 2008). "Eagles Flash Their Potential in Opening Win". The Boston Globe. Retrieved September 2, 2008.
24. Cleveland.com Accessed 2013-10-15
25. "Pryor, Ohio State feast on Toledo's porous defense". ESPN.com. September 19, 2009. Retrieved March 4, 2016.
26. Tilton, Bill (June 10, 2010). High school football: Mentor will play St. Edward at Browns Stadium The News-Herald Accessed July 11, 2010)
27. Browns to host Charity Game ClevelandBrowns.com June 22, 2010 (Accessed July 11, 2010)

External links

• Official website
• FirstEnergy Stadium at StadiumDB.com