Cleveland Stadium - Demise

Demise

The stadium was an economic drain on the City of Cleveland, which owned it and originally operated it. In the mid-1970s, Browns owner Art Modell leased the facility for $1 per year. In exchange, Modell's newly formed company, Stadium Corporation, assumed the expenses of operations from the city. Stadium Corp. invested in improvements, including new electronic scoreboards and luxury suites. Renting the suites and the scoreboard advertising generated substantial revenue for Stadium Corp and Modell. Modell refused to share the suite revenue with the Indians baseball team, even though much of the revenues were generated during baseball games as well as during Browns games. Eventually the Indians prevailed upon the local governments and voters and convinced them to build them their own facility where they would control the suite revenue. However, the stadium's inadequacy was becoming apparent in any event; chunks of concrete were falling off and the pilings were starting to petrify.

Modell, mistakenly believing that his revenues were not endangered, refused to participate in the Gateway Project that built Progressive Field for the Indians and Quicken Loans Arena for the Cavaliers. Modell's assumptions proved incorrect, and Stadium Corp.'s suite revenues declined sharply when the Indians moved from the stadium to Jacobs Field in 1994. The following year, Modell decided to move the football team to Baltimore, Maryland after the 1995 season.

Modell's move of the Browns breached the team's lease, and the City of Cleveland sued. After the suit was settled, the stadium was demolished the next year and the pieces were dumped into Lake Erie to create an artificial reef for fishermen and divers.