Cleveland Browns Stadium

Cleveland Browns Stadium is an American football stadium located in Cleveland, Ohio that serves as the home for the Cleveland Browns of the National Football League (NFL).

View of the inside of Cleveland Browns Stadium

They first started to build the stadium on May 15, 1997. The Browns first started playing in the stadium on September 12, 1999. In their first game, they were defeated by the Pittsburgh Steelers 43–0.^[1][2]

The stadium at first did not have a sponsor and was named Cleveland Browns Stadium after the team. The stadium would keep this name until 2013. On January 14, 2013, sponsorship naming rights were sold to FirstEnergy Corporation and the stadium was renamed FirstEnergy Stadium.^[3] The name of the stadium lasted until April 13, 2023 when both the Browns and the stadium decided to mutually terminate the naming rights deal.^[4] The termination came after First energy's involvement in the Ohio nuclear bribery scandal and a resolution being passed by Cleveland City Council that would try and force the naming rights to be given up by FirstEnergy. After the name was taken away, the stadium decided to return to its old name and become Cleveland Browns Stadium again.^[5]

There is a section in the eastern section of seating called The Dawg Pound. It is a successor to the former Dawg Pound that was in the old Cleveland Stadium.^[6] The stadium also has the nickname "Factory of Sadness" which was coined by Mike Polk.^[7][8]