This past week, myself along with thousands of other Browns fans were informed of the unfortunate news of the relocation of the Browns stadium. The Cleveland mayor said in a release that principal owners Dee and Jimmy Haslam notified him of the decision on October 16th. 

The Browns have been at their home stadium, the Huntington Bank Field since 1999 but according to the NFL new officials believe that the current stadium needs substantial improvements for sustainability. Despite its perfect location in the heart of downtown Cleveland officials have made the choice to move the stadium from a lively urban downtown area to mundane suburban Brookpark. 

David Jenkins, chief operating officer of Haslam Sports Group, says “The Brook Park site is the most compelling option for a dome for several reasons including its proximity to downtown.” This is interesting considering the Stadium is already in Cleveland’s downtown versus being closest to it. 

While some fans support the decision of the new move, others like myself continue to shake our heads at the decision. Cuyahoga County Executive Chris Ronayne wants to keep trying to convince the Browns to stay downtown according to Fox 8. 

Mayor Justin Bibb has also frowned upon the news of the re-location. According to Signal Cleveland, he painted the Haslams as team owners who chose their own wants at Cleveland’s expense. 

The Cleveland Browns continue to play their home games at their “home” stadium for now but changes are making way for our football team. My question is will fans still get to experience the downtown feel of a home football game in the new space or will it be so bad that we’ll start calling our team the Brook Park Browns.