DawgTalkers.net Forums DawgTalk Tailgate Forum Haslam's Next Move of Deceit

There are typically two sessions per day. If you work afternoons in the mill, you can attend the morning practice. If you work the early shift, you can attend the afternoon session.

If Jimmy is dumb enough to make this move (Well I guess everybody knows right away where I stand on this ) I worry about many of the people who work for the Browns and who live near Berea. How will it effect them? Will some of them lose their jobs? Will they be expected to commute every day? This could effect the lives of many families that nobody has even mentioned yet in this thread.

By Tom Reed, Northeast Ohio Media Group
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on January 14, 2014 at 6:00 AM, updated January 14, 2014 at 6:11 AM
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Browns Battleground

Monday's Day 1: The Browns know it will be a challenge to win back Ohio fans - especially young fans
Browns have discussed holding a minicamp, scrimmage or preseason game in Columbus
Tuesday's Day 2: Why Columbus is a crucial market for the Browns to draw fans
Wednesday's Day 3: What the Browns can learn from Athens County, a Browns stronghold - surrounded by Steelers gold
Why these Canadian fans go the extra mile to show their loyalty to the Browns

All Stories |

COLUMBUS, Ohio – Four miles from one of America’s most iconic college football stadiums stands a vacant downtown building that once served as the nexus of the NFL universe.

The office of league commissioner Joe F. Carr was located on the 11th floor of the Hayden Building across the street from the state capital. No multibillion dollar corporate deals were struck here during the 1920s and 1930s. Carr simply navigated the infant league through a river of red ink, shuttling franchises from small towns to big cities and recruiting financially capable owners.

NFL headquarters were moved not long after the death of the Columbus native in 1939. While most sports fans know the city as home to the Ohio State Buckeyes, the Horseshoe and Woody Hayes, there remains strong interest in the NFL.

The new Browns regime is aware of it and doesn't want to be left behind like Carr's empty office building. Team officials plan to be a serious player in Central Ohio, capitalizing on marketing opportunities and a shifting population base in the state's most prosperous region.

An area budding with transplants, Central Ohio represents an NFL battleground market, one within 185 miles of four franchises: Browns, Cincinnati Bengals, Pittsburgh Steelers and Indianapolis Colts. The Browns might be a mess on the field – six straight losing seasons -- but they appear well-organized in trying to broaden their appeal in the nation's 15th largest city.

Not long after team president Alec Scheiner joined the Browns in December 2012, one of his first trips was here. He spent two days introducing himself to businessmen, engaging with fans and meeting with members of the Greater Columbus Sports Commission.

“We are definitely very split when it comes to the NFL fan base whether it’s the Browns, Steelers or Bengals,” sports commission executive director Linda Shetina Logan said. “But by far the Browns have been the most aggressive in this market as far as trying to tap into the Columbus corporate community, our fan base and trying to find opportunities to work together.”

The city that helped give rise to Paul Brown at OSU boasts 809,798 residents – double that of Cleveland – and the state’s most robust economy. It’s little wonder why the Browns want to strengthen ties.

Kevin Griffin, the club’s new vice president of fan experience and marketing, is a Columbus native and former Buckeyes football player. He’s also the nephew of OSU icon Archie Griffin.

Griffin visits with Browns fans in the region and is active in developing ways to increase the Browns' presence.
nfl office1.jpgView full sizeThe NFL headquarters were located in Columbus inside the now vacant Hayden Building, the dark brown structure, in the 1920s and 1930s.Tom Reed, NEOMG

“We will do an event or two down there in the offseason,” he said. “The strategy is not fleshed out, but I can tell you it’s one of our top priorities.”

Logan said idea of holding a minicamp, exhibition game or scrimmage has been discussed. She was told any involvement of players would require the new coach’s blessing.

Former Browns coach Rob Chudzinski was receptive to the thought of holding a joint practice and scrimmage with an upcoming exhibition opponent. Logan said a venue like Columbus Crew Stadium or one of the city's small colleges could host such events.

Logan grew up in Fairport Harbor, and remains a Cleveland sports fan. Her favorite team, the Indians, has a Triple-A affiliate, the Clippers, about four blocks away from her downtown office. She hails from a family of diehards who ventured onto rooftops to adjust TV antennas and tune in Browns game broadcasts from Erie, Pa., and London, Ontario, when they were blacked out locally.

She’s eager to see better days for a franchise with two winning seasons in 15 years. Logan knows she’s not alone.

“There’s a lot of dormant Browns fans down here waiting to be ignited again,” she said.

A year ago, Facebook published a map illustrating the geographic location of NFL fanbases. It sifted through the data of its 35 million users who have liked a team’s fan page and assigned a simple majority to every county in the nation. The social media site awarded Franklin County to the Steelers, even as most interviewed for this series dispute that claim.
facebook-nfl-map.jpgView full sizeThis is the map that Facebook.com compiled in 2013 using information on its users' declarations of the "favorite NFL team" in their profiles. The Browns have seen the Steelers and Bengals win over the fandom in much of Ohio.Facebook.com

Columbus media personality Beau Bishop said he believes Browns fans still make up the bulk of the region’s NFL fans, but the Steelers and Bengals have solid fan bases.

As a sports radio talk show host at 97.1 The Fan, Bishop said listeners would rather discuss the Browns than any other NFL team. As a WBNS television sports anchor, he said the general rule is when the Browns and Bengals conflict, the station will air the Browns.

But as the Bengals reached the playoffs for a third straight season and the Browns lost 10 of their last 11 games, the CBS affiliate made exceptions. The Bengals earned the nod in the last three schedule conflicts, a sign of the diminishing respect the Browns are encountering on many levels.

Bishop wonders how the organization’s relentless tributes to its players from the 1960s and 1980s resonate with Central Ohio’s younger audiences. There are 130,000 college students attending Columbus-area institutions annually.
Columbus sports talk host Beau Bishop on the Browns 'selling the relic' Columbus talk show host Beau Bishop discusses why he says the Browns are "selling the relic," and why he thinks winning on the field is something the team must do soon.

The sportscaster said the Browns are sometimes guilty of “peddling a relic.”

“I think (the Browns) have the best fans in all of sports,” Bishop said. “Those fans identify themselves with the history Cleveland Browns. (When) the organization came back (in 1999) it was brilliant. They kept the colors, they kept the name. They were then able to sell a museum, sell what the franchise used to be and not so worry about what it currently is.

“I think it makes them not have to be held as accountable for what they do on the field because they know they can tap into the feelings the fans have from their youth or their parents’ youth.”
Columbus Blue Jackets winger R.J. Umberger discusses Steelers' popularity in Columbus The Blue Jackets hockey player is a Pittsburgh native and Steelers fan.

That’s not an issue with a burgeoning Pittsburgh fan base in Central Ohio. There are at least three Steelers bars for a growing black-and-gold community. The Columbus Blue Jackets now play in the NHL’s Eastern Conference, and games against the Penguins at Nationwide Arena have felt like Pittsburgh home dates.

NHL player R.J. Umberger, a Pittsburgh native, attended OSU and returned to the Columbus in 2008 as a member of the Blue Jackets. He’s witnessed a change over the years.

“It definitely continues to grow,” Umberger said. “Now that I’m part of the city and suburbs, and not just located on campus, I notice (Steelers fans) everywhere. I see them at all the different bars and restaurants. I see jerseys all the time . . . I definitely think there is a big Steelers base here.”

Of course, no NFL following here approaches the hysteria surrounding the Buckeyes. They are the antithesis of the turn-of-the-century Browns – a consistent winner, perennial title contender, beloved in every region of the state. You don’t need a Facebook color-coded map to tell which hue Ohio’s college-football loyalties are shaded.

It’s telling that 15 years after the Browns' rebirth, one of the few constants with the team has been the playing of OSU anthem "Hang On Sloopy" before the start of every fourth quarter at FirstEnergy Stadium.

As Scheiner tries to lure more fan interest and corporate dollars up US Route 71, he knows it starts with the on-field product.

“The farther away you get from Cleveland, the more you have to battle the Bengals or Steelers or other teams, but as we rebuild this it will be easier,” Scheiner said.

“. . . We know we have to win and we have to engage the fans. Engaging fans on social media or some of the things we are doing around the game, renovating the stadium, hopefully that will make us a more energetic, youthful franchise and that will make it easier with this generation. And, then we have to win. We never shy away from that: We have to win.”

That’s what football fans here are accustomed to. The Buckeyes win. The Bengals and Colts are winning. The Steelers have won two Super Bowls since 2006.

The Browns must start winning or prepare to see their lucrative Columbus bandwagon become as vacant as the old NFL commissioner’s headquarters.

http://www.cleveland.com/browns/index.ssf/2014/01/browns_battleground_columbus_h.html

Columbus officials reportedly think city will host Browns training camp, team says no decision made
By Nate Ulrich Published: December 18, 2014

Elected officials from Columbus visited FirstEnergy Stadium this past Sunday to make a pitch for the city to become the new home of Browns training camp, the Columbus Dispatch reported Thursday.

Two sources at City Hall told the newspaper the group, which included Mayor Michael B. Coleman, City Council President Andrew J. Ginther and Franklin County Commissioner John O’Grady, left the recent meeting with the Browns believing it was “a matter of when, not if” the team announces training camp will relocate from its headquarters in Berea to Columbus.

The group from Columbus offered financial incentives of an undisclosed amount to entice Browns owner Jimmy Haslam, according to the report.

When asked to comment, the Browns said no decision has been made.

"We haven’t made any decisions about the location of Browns training camp in 2015," team spokesman Rob McBurnett said Thursday. "We are still evaluating various options, including our facility in Berea."

The University of Akron is among the other candidates vying to host training camp. UA's InfoCision Stadium hosted a crowd of 20,673 this past summer for the Browns' Family Day scrimmage.

“Akron will get a good look," Haslam told an Akron Roundtable luncheon crowd last month. "You got off to a good start by what you did in August here.

“All of us felt great about that Saturday morning that we came down here. First of all, the university did a great job, the facilities were good, the crowd turnout was outstanding. It literally felt like going into a Browns game that day.”

The Browns have held training camp at their headquarters in Berea since 1992.

http://www.ohio.com/blogs/cleveland-brow...n-made-1.550975

Rearranging the deck chairs on the Titanic?

1999 2014 Cleveland Browns Training Facility Berea Ohio
1992 1995 Cleveland Browns Training Facility Berea Ohio
1982 1991 Lakeland Community College Kirtland Ohio

Seriously, I've worked for quite a few different managers in my time, and the absolute worst were the ones who believed in change for its own sake. The uni's, the surroundings, the chow in the dining room - stuff like that - are all just window dressing ... excuses, IMO.

I do have one comment that is contrary to something I suggested earlier. I asked why would politicians from Columbus make a trip to Cleveland to try and convince the Browns to move their TC there if it wasn't profitable.

I saw an interview w/the mayor of Berea. He said he had heard about the possible move but it was no skin off of his nose if the Browns go elsewhere. Not sure if he was talking tough, trying to be positive about his city, or if having the Browns there does not help the community?

Seriously, I've worked for quite a few different managers in my time, and the absolute worst were the ones who believed in change for its own sake. The uni's, the surroundings, the chow in the dining room - stuff like that - are all just window dressing ... excuses, IMO.

I do have one comment that is contrary to something I suggested earlier. I asked why would politicians from Columbus make a trip to Cleveland to try and convince the Browns to move their TC there if it wasn't profitable.

I saw an interview w/the mayor of Berea. He said he had heard about the possible move but it was no skin off of his nose if the Browns go elsewhere. Not sure if he was talking tough, trying to be positive about his city, or if having the Browns there does not help the community?

Seriously, I've worked for quite a few different managers in my time, and the absolute worst were the ones who believed in change for its own sake. The uni's, the surroundings, the chow in the dining room - stuff like that - are all just window dressing ... excuses, IMO.

I can't say I 100% agree with you on moving training camp. I mean Peen has shown how it's not the first time. It has been done more than once in the teams history. But I can say this.

There has been a lot of investment and change in this team for the sake of marketing. A better "fan experience" at the stadium. New uniforms to be unveiled here soon. Now talk of moving training camp to expand the fan base.

You want to expand the fan base? Get a QB and WIN FOOTBALL GAMES! Hundreds of millions of dollars are spent on the stadium, while we sit on tens of millions of dollars in cap space every year.

I don't have a problem marketing a product. But firstly and more importantly you must build a product worthy of marketing.

Hey Jimmy, this isn't diesel fuel. It isn't a commodity where the product is made available to you. Processed and equal to every other truck stop. This is a product YOU have to build. Why not work on that before you raise your ticket prices, try to sell us new Browns gear and act like you've done something already.

So...........the fans [NE Ohio residents] that have supported the Browns the most over the years will now not be able see their team in TC, but a bunch of Bengal and Squeeler fans will.

It's about marketing w/this guy. Manziel = marketing. Columbus = marketing.

The fans of NE Ohio..........we already got your loyalty, so we don't need to do anything for you and will instead raise season ticket prices and move TC so you can't attend it anymore.

You suck, Haslam!

Man, I have NEVER been more wrong about a Brown's issue in my life than when I actually thought Haslam was a God send for the Browns. I can admit when I am wrong. I was dead wrong. The guy is a crook, deceitful, and a piece of crap!

To be fair, I started that one.

It only took your last 300 or so posts but finally a post I agree with you on 100%.

jc..

This change of location for training camp..I'm not impressed...for one simple reason...the move does not appear to be tied to "winning"...but does appear to be tied to "marketing".

I would rather see Pettine take the team off site to some isolated place where they can focus on strictly football and winning.

Marketing seems to be the focus of this owner. He really enjoys lining his pockets, even though he cannot bring quality to this organization.

i think it's pretty funny that some posters are up in arms about this thinking that someone won't root for the Browns because they switched their TC. At this point we're all diagnosed with a severe case of stockholm syndrome with no hope for escape.

Haslam isn't stupid. He may have made some mistakes as an owner in his first couple years but I don't think any of them are because he wants to lose but make a bunch of money. He knows that the single biggest way to generate revenue is to win, be in the playoffs, generate more interest, grow the fan base, sell more jerseys, sell more beer, etc.

So I think it's perfectly reasonable to question his decisions but I don't think it's because he's not committed to trying to win.

Perhaps Mr. Haslam needs a course in Winning 101.