@blowe said:

@canton-mike said:

I'll tell you this one Mike. The guy I have my season tickets with daughter is (like him) is a diehard Browns fan. She happened to marry a guy from St. Louis- who is (of course) a Rams fan, and moved there. The deal was the kids could be Cardinals fans for baseball, but had to be Browns fans for football. Now that the Rams are likely moving west again- that turned out to be a pretty good arrangement.

& don't get me started on that s**t the Rams owner is pulling- he makes Modell look like a saint in comparison.

My 2 oldest sons now live in Houston and Phoenix, and they go to Browns Backers bars too. They say the crowds aren't very big, but there is still support.

This season has surprised the shit out of me, never saw a 2-10 in the cards (heading for 2-14). Yeah, I'm worried about the future of this team after seeing the stadium half empty on Sunday. I left in disgust with 12 minutes to go.

My Dad,older brother,and most of my family are Browns fans! My Mom still to this day

comes over after church to watch the Browns with me! She is 82!!!!

I'm 51 and eat,sleep,and breath the Cleveland Browns every Sundayz

I was in the upper deck at the 30 yard line lake side with my brother and friends

from Bowdil at the "Drive" game!!!!!! After that day I will always be a Browns fan!!!

They are part of my life,my family,and #1 on my list of things to do!!!

GO BROWNS!!!!....I'll prolly have that wrote on my tombstone GO BROWNS!!!

VesnaKociper said:

My Dad was a Paul Brown fan, he raised me a Browns fan. I grew up idolizing Brown, Mitchell, Gain, Fetchner, Renfro, John brown, Fiss, Hutchinson, Hickerson, Plum, Ryan, Collier, then Sipe and crew. When Shitenhiemer came on the scene, things went south.

Sorry that you seem so bitter. I don't always like how it goes or went either. Dr told me to put the lime in the coconut and drink it all up.....

@flyingfooldoug said:

PRICELESS!!! LOL

Mike

@canton-mike said:

Here's a young Browns' Fan for you....

My youngest Grandson & namesake, 8 year old Michael, is a die hard Browns' Fan. My Daughter tells me I have created a monster & I tell her that's a good thing. I often get calls from him about any breaking Browns' news he thinks I may not know. He loves attending games, has been to the Draft Party, Family Day, Training Camp & has a BUNCH of Browns' apparel, including his favorite Joe Thomas jersey.

Mike.

Good for you Mike. I have a 5yr old grandaughter and at a birthday party for her friend, she slopped her shirt. The kids mom offered her a black and yellow shirt to wear but the grand kid turned up her nose....kids know.. Go Browns!

My youngest Grandson & namesake, 8 year old Michael, is a die hard Browns' Fan. My Daughter tells me I have created a monster & I tell her that's a good thing. I often get calls from him about any breaking Browns' news he thinks I may not know. He loves attending games, has been to the Draft Party, Family Day, Training Camp & has a BUNCH of Browns' apparel, including his favorite Joe Thomas jersey.

Mike.

@jrb12711 said:

Yup, Charlotte.

My friends and family think it's hilarious. I get texts on the daily with different Browns memes. My aunt sent me one this morning, as a matter of fact. To it's credit, the Browns Backers bar here is a good time and it's USUALLY fairly busy - but in my time conversing with some of the people I've found out that they either:

- are Browns fans because of their family ties to Ohio

- are Browns fans because of their significant other

- are just here with their friend, who is a Browns fan, because of [insert one of two choices above]

- it's a really cool outdoor patio at this bar and there's a raffle

@tim-couch-pulls-out said:

For 50+ years.

@tim-couch-pulls-out said:

TCPO, I believe you live in Charlotte? and if so I can absolutely confirm everything about this. I'm fixing to turn 26 myself here sooner than later and most of my football friends are AMAZED I'd continue to support the Browns. I have Sunday Ticket this year but in previous years I'd literally be the only Browns fan in a packed bar here in NC. The Browns backer bar is a bunch of 50+ dudes and I was the youngest easily by 20 years. The place they meet is pathetic and maybe 10-12 people show up. It doesn't help I'm in Panther country who have seen a Super Bowl and now this run, but still. It's also a huge realization that people are leaving the state of Ohio to live other places as well which disenfranchises the fandom aspect. It could get really bad in a hurry and I can't sit there and blame people really.

@tim-couch-pulls-out said:

Actually the Browns are losing fans in the over 50 group also. Know quite a few season ticket holders who got rid of them and don't even watch anymore. Shit is beyond getting old.

@medicineman said:

This is a legitimate serious concern.

I'm 26 and I've been a Browns fan all of my life, but my fondest memory right now is the short respite I had where I got to be a Minnesota Vikings fan for three years. You'd be hard-pressed to find a Browns fan from a non-Ohioan family that is under the age of 25. When I go to the Browns bar here, I'm quite possibly the youngest fan - the average age range I'd put from 35-60.

The Cleveland Browns were a legendary NFL team, but for people under the age of 30, we've experienced very little first hand to be proud of. All of the stories we get of Cleveland's dominance are second (or even third) hand. It's like your grandfather telling you stories of when frankfurters cost a nickel - it's funny to hear and you don't doubt it, but you can't possibly fathom that actually being the case.

Fact of the matter is, millennials are transitioning into owning the largest purchasing power of any generation - and we like to spend money. Despite the common misconception that we are generally a wishy-washy consumer, millennials are fiercely brand loyal - it's the reason Apple has continued to succeed despite regurgitating the same devices time and again.

This is great news for sports franchises - but nobody is buying into the Cleveland Browns right now. We're the Jitterbug of NFL franchises - an extremely simplified version of a popular product that is being marketed toward seniors.

To Haslam's credit, I believe he fully understands this - the stadium renovations, the "rebranding", the drafting of Johnny Manziel, the revamping of the Browns online presence, etc. - all of these have been legitimate attempts at capturing more of the millennial marketshare, yet each attempt has wildly missed the mark (except the Browns online presence, they are doing well there). In my opinion, the jerseys are fairly terrible - especially the brown ones. The white look great and the orange are passable. Manziel has done nothing but drive a wedge in both the fanbase as well as the front office (and probably the locker room, as well). And the stadium renovations, I hear, are essentially nothing.

If something doesn't happen soon, the Browns could be the Jaguars of the north. Say what you want about "oh, that will never happen, we're a football town, yada yada". But the fact is that the people who post on internet forums about a product normally represent the upper echelon of loyal consumers and aren't reflective of the general population. If we're getting tired of it here, you can bet that Joe Schmo at work who's technically a Browns fan but doesn't know why we hate pick #22 is certainly tired of it.

@flyingfooldoug said:

For 50+ years.

@mddawg said:

Agree. Having a hard time convincing my kids to be Browns fans.

just tell them that with 8 championship trophys, we had to take a break and allow the league get caught up

@medicineman said:

Agree. Having a hard time convincing my kids to be Browns fans.