Cleveland Stadium Cleveland Stadium ( commonly Lakefront Stadium and Cleveland Municipal Stadium ) was a multi - purpose stadium , located in Cleveland , Ohio . In its final years , the stadium seated 74 , 438 , for baseball and 81 , 000 , for football . It was one of the early multi - purpose stadium s , built to accommodate both baseball and football . It was demolished in 1996 to make way for Cleveland Browns Stadium , which now stands on the site . History . The impetus for Cleveland Stadium came from city manager William R . Hopkins , Cleveland Indians ' president Ernest Barnard , real estate magnate and future Indians ' president Alva Bradley , and the Van Sweringen brothers , who thought that the attraction of a stadium would benefit area commerce in general and their own commercial interests in downtown Cleveland in particular . However , some have incorrectly stated that it was built in a failed bid to attract the 1932 Summer Olympics , which had been awarded to Los Angeles before ground was broken on the stadium . That misconception may have contributed to some in the media calling the stadium , " The Mistake by the Lake " . Another common misconception is that Cleveland Stadium , was a Works Progress Administration project ; in fact , the WPA was not created until 1935 , four years after the stadium was built . In November 1929 , Cleveland voters passed by 112 , 448 to 76 , 975 , a 59 % passage rate , with 55 % needed to pass , " a $ 2 . 5 million levy for a fireproof stadium on the Lakefront . " Actual construction costs overran that amount by $ 500 , 000 . Construction . Built during the administrations of city manager s William R . Hopkins and Daniel E . Morgan , it was designed by the architectural firms of Walker and Weeks and by Osborn Engineering . It featured an early use of structural aluminum . The stadium was dedicated on July 1 , 1931 . On July 3 , 1931 , it hosted a boxing match for the National Boxing Association World Heavyweight Championship between Max Schmeling and Young Stribling , with 37 , 000 fans in attendance . Schmeling retained his title by a technical knockout ( t . k . o ) - victory in the 15th round . The Donald Gray Gardens were installed on the stadium ' s north side in 1936 as part of the Great Lakes Exposition . Tenants . Indians . The stadium was built for football as well as for the Cleveland Indians , who played their first game there on July 31 , 1932 , losing to the Philadelphia Athletics ' great pitcher Lefty Grove 1 - 0 while attracting a then - major - league - record crowd of 80 , 184 . The Indians played all of their games at the stadium from the middle of the 1932 season through 1933 . However , the players and fans complained about the huge outfield , which reduced the number of home runs . Moreover , as the Great Depression worsened , attendance plummeted . In 1934 the Indians moved most of their games back to their smaller previous home , League Park . In 1936 , the Indians began playing Sunday and holiday games at Cleveland Stadium during the summer . Beginning in 1938 , they also played selected important games there . Starting in 1939 , they played night games there as well because League Park didn ' t have lights . By 1940 , the Indians played most of their home slate at Cleveland Stadium , abandoning League Park entirely after the 1946 season . They played there until the end of the 1993 season , after which they moved to Jacobs Field ( which was later named Progressive Field ) . The stadium anticipated problems that would emerge 40 years later when cookie - cutter stadium s were in vogue . Due to the fundamentally different sizes and shapes of baseball and football fields , the baseball sight lines generally left much to be desired . The original baseball playing field was so large that an inner fence was constructed in 1947 to cut down the size of the spacious outfield . Even after it was put in , the distance markers on the bleacher walls remained visible for many years ; it was 470 feet from home plate to the bleachers in straightaway center field . No player ever hit a home run into the center field bleacher s . Ted Williams hit the only inside - the - park home run of his career at Cleveland Stadium before the inner fence was installed . According to his own autobiography , " Veeck - As in Wreck " , Indians owner Bill Veeck would move the fence in or out , varying by as much as 15 feet , depending on how it would favor the Indians , a practice that ended when the American League specifically legislated against moving fences during the course of a given season . Like some other facilities built before warning track s became standard , the stadium had an earthen berm in front of the center field wall . After the inner fence was installed , the berm was still visible during football season . The facility , located just south of Lake Erie , was known for the biting cold winds that would blow into the stadium in winter and , for that matter , during much of the spring and fall . Because of its proximity to the lake during hot summer nights , its lights attracted swarms of midge s and mayflies . Game 2 of the 2007 American League Division Series , in Jacobs Field on October 5 , 2007 , brought back memories of the old stadium , when swarms of midge s ( misidentified by the television announcers as mayflies ) infested the field , particularly the pitcher ' s mound . In 1948 , when the Indians won the American League pennant and World Series behind pitcher Bob Feller and shortstop / player - manager Lou Boudreau , the Indians set three Major League attendance records : they had the highest single season attendance , 2 , 620 , 627 , which was not eclipsed until the 1962 Los Angeles Dodgers , largest regular season night game attendance of 72 , 434 for the first major league start of Satchel Paige , and biggest World Series game attendance of 86 , 288 for game 5 on October 10 , 1948 . However , during the Indians ' lean years from the 1960s through the 1990s , they rarely attracted more than 30 , 000 people , and even crowds of 40 , 000 looked sparse in the cavernous environment . In 1949 , after the Indians lost the pennant to the New York Yankees , as a black humor - themed promotion they held a mock funeral procession on the field and buried their 1948 championship flag in the outfield . Interestingly enough , the Indians have not won a World Series since , coming as close as the final inning in 1997 . On four separate occasions , it hosted the All - Star Game : 1935 , 1954 , 1963 , and 1981 . The 1981 All - Star Game was notable for two reasons : it was the first game after the conclusion of the players ' strike of that year , and it was held the day after a Cleveland Browns exhibition football game . On May 15 , 1981 it was the site of Len Barker ' s perfect game . On its last day as home of the Indians on October 3 , 1993 , the team ' s fans , led by comedian Bob Hope , who grew up an Indians fan and was once a part - owner , sang a version of his signature song " Thanks for the Memory " with special lyrics for the occasion . Browns . Cleveland Municipal Stadium was the first home of the Cleveland Rams , which became a charter member of the second American Football League in 1936 . After finishing second in the AFL , the Rams left the league for the National Football League in 1937 , but stayed in their original home for one more year before moving to Shaw Stadium . The NFL ' s Cleveland Browns began playing at the facility in 1946 , and played there until 1995 . The stadium was the site of the AAFC Championship game in 1946 , 1948 and 1949 , and of the NFL Championship Game in 1945 ( Washington Redskins v . Cleveland Rams ) , 1950 ( L . A . Rams vs Browns ) , 1952 ( Detroit vs . Browns ) , 1954 ( Detroit vs . Browns ) , 1964 ( Baltimore Colts vs . Browns ) and 1968 ( Baltimore Colts vs . Browns ) . It was also the site of the Denver Broncos and John Elway ' s famous Drive in the January 11 , 1987 AFC Championship Game It was also the site of the 1980 - 81 AFC Divisional Championship game where Mike Davis of the Raiders intercepted Brian Sipe in the Oakland endzone with 41 - seconds left securing Oakland ' s 14 - 12 victory . Dawg Pound . The center field bleacher s at the east end of the stadium were home to many of the club ' s most avid fans and became known during the 1980s as the Dawg Pound after the barks that fans made to disrupt opposing teams ' offensive plays . The fans were copying Browns players Hanford Dixon and Frank Minnifield , who frequently appeared to bark to each other and to the opposition . Some of the fans even wore dog masks and threw dog biscuits at opposing players . Other events . College Football . The only Great Lakes Bowl was held there in 1947 . The stadium hosted the annual Notre Dame / Navy college football game 11 times : in 1932 , 1934 , 1939 , 1942 , 1943 , 1945 , 1947 , 1950 , 1952 , 1976 and 1978 . The games were well attended , with an average attendance of 69 , 730 and a high of 84 , 090 fans for the 1947 game , which was won by Notre Dame 27 - 0 . Local colleges Case Institute of Technology and Western Reserve University used the field from time to time as well . The Illinois Fighting Illini played the Penn State Nittany Lions there in 1959 . The Ohio State Buckeyes played in the stadium four times . The first was in a 1942 win over Illinois before 68 , 656 , the second a 1943 loss to Purdue , and the third a 1944 victory over Illinois . The final college football contest played there was on October 19 , 1991 , when the Northwestern Wildcats played a " home " game against the Buckeyes . While Northwestern received the home team ' s share of the gate receipts , the crowd was mostly Ohio State fans . Concerts . In addition to sporting events , the stadium hosted a number of other events , including the World Series of Rock from 1974 - 1980 , featuring big - name acts , such as The Rolling Stones , Pink Floyd , The Beach Boys and Aerosmith . The Rolling Stones ' July 1 , 1978 concert of 82 , 238 attendees was reportedly the first concert to gross over $ 1 , 000 , 000 . The Series was discontinued following racial confrontations between whites and blacks in 1979 . On September 2 , 1995 , it hosted the inaugural Rock and Roll Hall of Fame concert , which featured James Brown , Johnny Cash , Bob Dylan , and The Allman Brothers Band , among others . Religious events . The stadium also hosted numerous religious services . Its most heavily attended event was the Roman Catholic Church ' s Seventh Eucharistic Congress , hosted by the Diocese of Cleveland in 1935 , which attracted 75 , 000 to a midnight mass on September 24 , 1935 and an estimated 125 , 000 to Eucharistic service the following day . One of the stadium ' s last events was a Billy Graham crusade , held in 1994 . Hollywood . Several scenes for the motion picture , " The Fortune Cookie " , were filmed during the game between the Browns and the visiting Minnesota Vikings on 31 October 1965 . Much of the 1949 movie " The Kid From Cleveland " , in which Bob Feller , Lou Boudreau , Bill Veeck and Satchel Paige played themselves , was filmed there . Despite being set in the stadium , the motion picture " Major League " was not actually filmed in the stadium . While aerial distance shots of the actual stadium were used , Milwaukee County Stadium , whose grandstand interior looked similar to that of Municipal Stadium , was the actual stadium used for filming . Some scenes in the 1991 made for TV Babe Ruth bio - pic movie , starring Stephen Lang as the Babe and with a cameo by Pete Rose as Ty Cobb , were filmed there . 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 Cavs . 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 .