BROWNS TO BALTIMORE: Mark Viviano Shares The Story Behind The Story

[Baltravens]

For one, he was broke. Two, Baltimore provided him a solution where he could keep the team and get the stadium he wanted.

He made a horrible deal with the city. It started out as him being the sole landlord of Municipal Stadium, collecting rent from the Indians and having a home for his team. Problem there was the Indians stunk and he really didn't care about the Indians all that much. He took revenue from the Indians and used it for the Browns, something that didn't sit well with the Indians. He even got sued by one of the minority shareholders of the Browns for his "less than ethical" accounting practices. All the while, he kept after the city that he needed help with repairs and upkeep. The city wasn't willing to help, IMO, because of political differences (Modell was an outspoken Republican in a city that was turning very Democrat). Right before the move, Modell was losing in the tens of millions of dollars a year leading up to "The Move".

It came to a head when he requested public finding for a new stadium. The city, instead, agreed to put the matter up on a referendum, but only to fix up Municipal Stadium, not for a new stadium. Modell then began to talk to Baltimore in secret about a possible move.

The rest, shall we say, is history.

I know for one Art Modell lost tens of millions over 3 seasons with the Browns from either 1992 or 1993 to 1995. The Browns value in 1992 was 123 million dollars if I recollect and by 1995 the value dropped to the low 90's in terms of millions of dollars.

So losing big money in an investment can greatly influence a decision.

[esmd]

IIRC, that WJZ reporter that shit all over him and his story was John Buren.

He was an incredible d-bag and was often seen at the 723 in Fells. If he was on TV during a time of social media, he would have a weekly YouTube of him drunk off his arse and acting like a dick to every server in the city.

Buren is definitely a tool.

[HotInHere]

Calling all cars, calling all cars! Could someone PLEASE point me to a source that would give an account as to WHY Mr. Modell moved the team? Now, I understand the primary source detailing this was a book titled The Fumble, but I am striving for objectivity rather than an opinion/theory.

The very simple answer is dollars -- LOTS of them.

Following on to what HR said, when the city of Cleveland decided to build Jacobs Field for the Injuns, they took away Modell's biggest tenant at The Mistake By The Lake. Unlike other NFL owners who had craploads of money and decided to buy teams, Art wasn't particularly rich. He borrowed the money to buy the Browns in the first place. He was not a captain of industry -- his business was football.

Things got so bad for him financially that he had to take a personal loan to pay Andre "Bad Moon" Rison to be a mediocre receiver for him. When the Browns moved, they didn't even have a full practice squad because they couldn't afford it!

Meanwhile in Baltimore, there sat an untapped goldmine that was about to disappear. The fine citizens of this great state had created the Maryland Stadium Authority and funded it with a lottery in the hopes of drawing an NFL team. The money for a new stadium was there -- we just needed a team to occupy it. After losing out on expansion, several teams (Rams, Bucs, Cardinals, etc.) used the threat of moving to Baltimore as leverage to get better deals in their home cities. Modell met with the MSA and assured them he was not playing that game. He would not be going back to Cleveland to give them a chance to match.

The goldmine was about to dry up, as Governor Glendening had made plans to take back that MSA money and move it to the general fund. It was 'now or never' for the NFL to get that money into its coffers.

Another reason why the deal was able to go through was that Jack Kent Cooke of the Redskins wanted to build a stadium in Maryland. He had successfully kept Baltimore from getting an expansion franchise, and had threatened to fight any move of an NFL team into his back yard. But now, needing a concession from the state to be able to build his stadium, he agreed to abstain from the vote. So the path was clear for the Browns to move.

Modell got an amazingly sweet deal here in Baltimore. The Ravens do not pay rent -- instead, they cover the maintenance and upkeep of the stadium. They keep all the revenue for NFL games, and get half of the revenue for non-NFL events (soccer, concerts, Army/Navy) even though they have no ownership of the stadium.

Modell got the money for the sale of PSL's. I don't remember the figure, but there are 71,000 seats, and PSLs went for between $750 and $3500 each, not including club seats, which went for considerably more.

He got two levels of luxury suites. Seasonal rent on these are probably in the six-figure range.

He also got to sell the naming rights to the stadium. Their original deal with PSINet was for 20 years, at $105MM. They reacquired the rights when PSINet went tits-up, and sold them again to M&T.

All of those are revenues he would not have had if he had stayed in Cleveland. Then, when he sold the remaining 49% of the team to Stevie B, he got $325MM for that.

If Modell had died without moving the team, he most likely would have left his heirs with little except debt. It is doubtful they would have been able to keep the team, and whatever they would have sold it for would not have been much (relatively.) By moving to Baltimore, Modell made an enormous pile of money. I personally believe he was a good man who loved Cleveland, but there is a point where the money is too great to walk away from. He chose to have his family set up financially for generations to come, and I find it hard to find fault with that.

(Note: I spewed pretty much all of this from memory alone, so I welcome anyone who can correct any factual missteps I may have made.)

[ravenjoe]

I personally believe he was a good man who loved Cleveland, but there is a point where the money is too great to walk away from. He chose to have his family set up financially for generations to come, and I find it hard to find fault with that.

Certainly, No one can fault him for this! Modell was a good man, with lots of love for all concerned. He had to look out for his family, first and foremost. To all of those citizens in Cleveland who continue to defecate on his name, I am sure they would not have forked over the same wealth to secure Modell's family for generations to come - he had to make the decision he did for the betterment of his family!

[HoustonRaven]

Certainly, No one can fault him for this! Modell was a good man, with lots of love for all concerned. He had to look out for his family, first and foremost. To all of those citizens in Cleveland who continue to defecate on his name, I am sure they would not have forked over the same wealth to secure Modell's family for generations to come - he had to make the decision he did for the betterment of his family!

Well, I don't know about how good a guy he was. He robbed the Indians to help pay for the Browns, something he would have had a hard time answering to had his partner continued with the lawsuit.

He was at fault for his crappy business decisions that led to his financial predicament, to which he sought help from Cleveland.

[ERey]

Great story. Thanks for posting this.

Back in 1995 I worked in a business on Lombard Street. It was a great location for all move related activities. I remember they unveiled the Ravens uniforms at the Mall and Vinnie Testaverde came down the escalator wearing it. (Note - for those that recall the vote, I voted for The Mustangs)

I also remember vendors selling Baltimore Cardinals shirts as well as Baltimore Browns shirts. I attended the first game at Memorial Stadium vs the Raiders and many others. The Kordell Stewart game in 1997 comes to mind as does the last play with Unitas.

Fact is I didn't even understand the game of football until much later. I was just excited that we had a team. I bought my PSLs in 2000, attended my first Super Bowl in 2012 and took my son to his first game in 2014. It's been a great ride since 1996.

[moose10101]

moose,
IMHO, your points are very well taken. However, I think it would be fair to add that the Browns winning tradition in the AAFC preceded the '58 and '59 NFL seasons by at least a dozen years, and the generally understood "turning point" for the NFL's start of the rise to popularity was much predicated on the BALTIMORE Colts (as well as other stuff, to be fair).

Which then, of course, gives rise to the debate on the perspective that Art Modell belongs in the HOF... ;)

Even discounting the AAFC history, the Browns have the same # of NFL championships as the Baltimore Colts, played in twice as many NFL title games, have a much better regular-season winning % (.628 vs .538, from 1950-1983), have twice as many players in the NFL Hall of Fame, and were founded/coached by the man who many people consider the greatest innovator in football history. IMO, the "winning tradition" of the Colts doesn't make the top three.

I just thought the statement showed an odd lack of perspective for a sports reporter. Maybe the ineptitude of the "new Browns" blinded him, along with knowing Paul Brown only as the owner of the "Bungles". Aside from that, it's a great story.

[Moe the Crow]

pretty cool story

Browns won a bunch of Championships. They beat the Colts to get one of them.

I adopted the Browns in the late 80s after the Colts skipped town in part because they were an old team with a rich history. They've had a bad run lately. No offense to Cincinnati Cat but after us if it were possible to have a second favorite in the AFCN it would be the Browns. There is just so much bad blood between the two cities over the move It has skewed my view of the team forever.

[BillickFan]

Calling all cars, calling all cars! Could someone PLEASE point me to a source that would give an account as to WHY Mr. Modell moved the team? Now, I understand the primary source detailing this was a book titled The Fumble, but I am striving for objectivity rather than an opinion/theory.

I was born in northeast Ohio, but as a boy my family moved as the strength of unions started to die. (My father made his millions in another industry as a decorated Vietnam Vet.) As the Industrial Age came to a close, my middle class Jesuit roots remain with me as I work in LP. I want to truly know why Art Modell moved the team, rather than becoming another follower of emotion and anger at an owner who I think took a team to Baltimore because Cleveland would not rightfully give the Browns a new stadium.

20 years ago as a young'in I chose to welcome his new team the Ravens as my own, too. Let the future hold more success and growing tradition for the Baltimore Ravens!Attachment 2692

Check out the book "Glory For Sale". It's got a great few chapters on what was going on in Cleveland at the time. How the Carolina/Jacksonville expansion played a role in this. Very comprehensive view of the many factors leading to the Browns move here.

[flraven]

John Steadman's book, From Colts to Ravens, gives a very good account of how and why the Browns came to Baltimore.

And HotinHere's account of what happened is pretty spot-on, in my recollections.

[Raven Werewolf]

I was really young at the time but I do sort of remember this as it was happening..... how could I not it was such a big deal. THis is silly but one thing I remember clear as day was a clip of Cleveland mayor being interviewed on the street by I guess one of our stations. Well they tried to interview him anyway..... he kept saying 'are you from Baltimore? Are you from Baltimore? Get out of here!' I just remember him being so pissed and enraged and knew then that wow this is HUGE.

[AirFlacco]

IIRC, that WJZ reporter that shit all over him and his story was John Buren.

He was an incredible d-bag and was often seen at the 723 in Fells. If he was on TV during a time of social media, he would have a weekly YouTube of him drunk off his arse and acting like a dick to every server in the city.

Exactly.

You beat me to it. Buren said Mark was whistling in the grave yard on his
Ch 13 show. Well, he's been out of TV for a long time and Mark's still in it. Buren
went into real estate and did pretty well for a while. Not sure about now.

When the Ravens new stadium opened Buren was the MC for the pre-game ceremonies.
When he walked out to the field he got such a loud round of boos he couldn't talk.
Every time he spoke they booed him. He was finally escorted off the field amongst
a thunderous round of boos.

The next night after that he's on TV wearing a Deadskins jersey. Eventually, he
was fired because he was a terrible reporter and full of himself. The people just
hated him.

As for me, I didn't believe Viviano at first either and didn't believe it until the
Ravens played their first game here not the way we were jerked around in the
expansion derby and Petey tried to buy the Rams and Bucs offering each
more money than was ever offered for a team and move them here
and Tags stopped him on both tries. I just didn't think it was happening.


I was there.