With Cavs on The Rise, Cleveland Is Slowly Losing The Browns Town Image

Casey Drottar by Correspondent Written on July 01, 2009
CLEVELAND - MAY 28: Fans wave a Cavaliers flag during Game Five of the Eastern Conference Finals between the Cleveland Cavaliers and the Orlando Magic  during the 2009 Playoffs at Quicken Loans Arena on May 28, 2009 in Cleveland, Ohio. NOTE TO USER: User expressly acknowledges and agrees that, by downloading and or using this photograph, User is consenting to the terms and conditions of the Getty Images License Agreement  (Photo by Elsa/Getty Images) (Photo by Elsa/Getty Images)
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Let's face it. When given the choice between which team you'd rather see, would you choose a franchise being labeled by multiple sports analysts as "championship caliber," or one which never seems to leave the rebuilding years?

The economy certainly isn't making matters any better. 

Now more than ever, fans in Cleveland are going to be keeping tighter budgets.  If the Browns continue to put on weekly displays of ineptitude and losing, you can bet people will second-guess the idea of spending money on tickets.

Think this is a problem the Cavs will be running into anytime soon?

Consider this; the economy took it's first dive last October, the same month in which the NBA season begins.  However, while the stock market plummeted, LeBron and company drew sellout crowds at nearly every home game.  Fans certainly weren't discouraged when the team went 39-2 at the Q.

At the same time, during the last game at Cleveland Browns Stadium in 2008, the crowd was dismal.  The team was starting Ken Dorsey at quarterback and going for their fifth win in the sixteenth week of the season.

Again, who are you going to pay to see—a team who only lost at home twice, or one which only won at home once?

Its up to Mangini and Kokinis to make the Browns relevant again, because they're finally facing some tough competition from another local franchise.  This organization hasn't played second fiddle to a fellow Cleveland team in quite some time, but they certainly can't sit back and watch the Cavs take over the city. 

Instead, they have to do their best to convince fans in Cleveland that the Browns are worth spending money on.  This will be no easy task, especially with a lack of credible talent and still no starting quarterback.

If they fail to do so, those same fans know they can find some quality sports entertainment by taking a ten minute walk down East 9th Street. 

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written on July 01, 2009 Opinion

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