Cleveland Browns relocation controversy The Cleveland Browns relocation controversy was the decision by then Browns owner Art Modell to move a National Football League team from its longtime home of Cleveland , Ohio , to Baltimore , Maryland , for the 1996 NFL season . Subsequent legal actions saw a unique compromise that would later set a precedent in professional sports : Modell would be able to keep the Browns ' existing player and staff contracts , but his team officially would be an entirely new franchise in Baltimore , later named the Baltimore Ravens . Meanwhile , the Browns ' name , history , and archives would stay in Cleveland , and a new Browns team would begin play in 1999 after a three - year period of " deactivation " . Early stages of the move . In 1973 , then - Browns owner Art Modell signed a 25 - year lease to operate Cleveland Stadium . Modell ' s newly - formed company , Stadium Corporation , assumed the expenses of operations from the city , freeing up tax dollars for other purposes . Also , Modell would pay an annual rent of $ 150 , 000 for the first five years and $ 200 , 000 afterwards to the city . In exchange , Modell would receive all revenue generated by the stadium . Stadium Corp invested in improvements , including new electronic scoreboards and luxury suite s . Renting the suites and the scoreboard advertising generated substantial revenue for Stadium Corp and Modell . However , Modell refused to share the suite revenue with the Cleveland Indians Major League Baseball team ( which also played at Cleveland Stadium ) , even though much of the revenues were generated during baseball games as well as football games . Eventually , the Indians prevailed upon the local governments and voters and convinced them to build them their own facility where they controlled the suite revenue . Modell , mistakenly believing that his revenues were not endangered , refused to participate in the Gateway Project that built Jacobs Field for the Indians and Gund Arena for the NBA ' s Cleveland 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 . Announcing the move . After Modell realized how much revenue he lost from the Indians moving out of Cleveland Stadium , he requested an issue be placed on the ballot to provide $ 175 million in tax dollars to refurbish the outmoded and declining Cleveland Stadium . On the field , the Browns , coached by Bill Belichick , were coming off a playoff season in which the team finished 11 - 5 and advanced to the second round of the playoffs entering the 1995 season . " Sports Illustrated " even selected the Browns to represent the AFC in Super Bowl XXX at the end of the season . However , the team disappointed many fans by losing three straight games after starting the season 3 - 1 . On November 6 , 1995 , with the team sitting at 4 - 5 , Modell announced in a press conference at Camden Yards that he had signed a deal to relocate the Browns to Baltimore , Maryland in 1996 – a move which would return the NFL to Baltimore for the first time since the Baltimore Colts relocated to Indianapolis , Indiana after the 1983 season . The reason Modell chose to relocate to Baltimore was because he felt the city had the funding to build a first - class stadium . The very next day , on November 7 , Cleveland voters overwhelmingly approved the aforementioned tax issue to remodel Cleveland Stadium . Browns fans reacted angrily to the news , wearing hats and t - shirts that read " Muck Fodell " . Cleveland filed an injunction to keep the Browns in the city until at least 1998 , while several other lawsuits were filed by fans and ticket holders . Congress held hearings on the matter . Actor / comedian Drew Carey returned to his hometown of Cleveland on November 26 , 1995 , to host " Fan Jam " in protest of the proposed move . A protest was held in Pittsburgh during the Browns ' game there against the Pittsburgh Steelers but ABC , the network broadcasting the game ( and also the home of Carey ' s new sitcom that just premiered ) , declined to cover or mention the protest . It was one of the few instances that Steelers fans and Browns fans were supported each other , as fans in Pittsburgh felt that Modell was robbing their team of their rivalry with the Browns . Virtually all of the team ' s sponsors pulled their support , leaving Cleveland Stadium devoid of advertising during the team ' s final weeks . As far as the on - field product was concerned , the Browns stumbled to finish 5 - 11 after the announcement , ahead of only the expansion Jacksonville Jaguars in the AFC Central . The last game the team played at Cleveland Municipal Stadium was a 26 - 10 victory over the Cincinnati Bengals . Settlement . After extensive talks between the NFL , the Browns and officials of the two cities , Cleveland accepted a legal settlement that would keep the Browns ' legacy in Cleveland . On February 9 , 1996 , the NFL announced that the Browns would be ' deactivated ' for three years , and that a new stadium would be built for a new Browns team , as either an expansion team or a team moved from another city , that would begin play in 1999 . Modell would in turn then be granted a new franchise ( the 31st NFL franchise ) , for Baltimore , retaining the current contracts of players and personnel . There would be a reactivated team for Cleveland , where the Browns ' name , colors , history , records , awards and archives would remain in Cleveland . The only other current NFL team to suspend operations without merging with another was Cleveland ' s previous NFL team , the Rams , during the 1943 season at the height of World War II . An additional stipulation was that in any future realignment plan , the Browns would automatically be placed in a division with the Pittsburgh Steelers and Cincinnati Bengals , due to longstanding rivalries with those two teams . Upon their reactivation in 1999 , the Browns were placed back in the AFC Central with the Steelers and Bengals , as well as the rechristened Ravens ( " né " Browns ) and Jaguars . When the NFL realigned into divisions of four teams for the 2002 season , Cleveland , Pittsburgh , Cincinnati , and Baltimore remained together , but in the newly - created AFC North . Aftermath . The return of the NFL to Baltimore effectively killed the professional football team already in Baltimore at the time , the Grey Cup champion Baltimore Stallions of the Canadian Football League . Realizing he would be unable to compete with the NFL , Stallions owner Jim Speros moved the team to Montreal for the 1996 season and sold it to Bob Wetenhall in 1997 . The former Stallions ended up as the revived Montreal Alouettes . Focus groups , a telephone survey , and a fan contest were all held to help select a new name for Modell ' s relocated club . Starting with a list of over 100 possible names , the team ' s management reduced it to 17 . From there , focus groups of a total of 200 Baltimore area residents reduced the list of names to six , and then a phone survey of 1000 people trimmed it down to three , Marauders , Americans , and Ravens . Finally , a fan contest drawing 33 , 288 voters picked " Ravens " , a name that alludes to the famous poem , " The Raven " , by Edgar Allan Poe , who spent the latter part of his life in Baltimore , and is also buried there . The team also adopted purple and black as their team colors , a stark contrast of the brown and orange colors of the Browns . Ex - Baltimore Colts such as Art Donovan and Johnny Unitas disowned the Colts after their move to Indianapolis and are claimed in the Ravens ' history . The former Colts Marching Band , which remained in Baltimore after the Colts moved , was subsequently renamed the Baltimore ' s Marching Ravens . Along with the Buffalo Bills and Washington Redskins , the Ravens are one of only three NFL teams with an official marching band . Modell ' s move to Baltimore came at the height of NFL teams relocating . The move also fueled a proliferation of 12 new stadiums throughout the NFL . Several NFL franchises used the threat of relocation to coerce their respective cities to build new stadiums with public funds . Such franchises include the Seahawks , Buccaneers , Bengals , Lions , Cardinals , and Bears . In the three - year period from 1995 - 1997 , four NFL teams moved . In addition to Modell ' s move , Los Angeles lost both of its teams for the 1995 season as the Raiders moved back to Oakland and the Rams moved east to St . Louis . The fourth and final move saw the Houston Oilers leave Texas to move to Memphis in 1997 and become known as the Tennessee Oilers ; the team would move again to Nashville in 1998 and would be renamed the Tennessee Titans in 1999 . After several NFL teams used Cleveland as a relocation threat to become the reactivated Browns ( most notably the Tampa Bay Buccaneers ) , the NFL decided in 1998 to make the reactivated Browns an expansion team , which while it temporarily gave the league an odd number of teams ( causing at least one team to be off in each of the 17 weeks of the NFL season from 1999 – 2001 ) , it also eliminated any possibility of an existing franchise giving up its own identity for the Browns and thus prevented more lawsuit s . In a somewhat ironic twist , Al Lerner - - who helped Modell move to Baltimore — was granted ownership of the reactivated Browns ( his son Randy took over ownership after Al ' s death in 2002 ) . The Houston Texans were created as the 32nd team to replace the Oilers in Houston , Texas for the 2002 NFL season to give the league once again an even number of teams . The reactivated Browns have had only two winning seasons since returning to the NFL in 1999 : a 9 - 7 finish in 2002 which also saw the team clinch a wild card spot in the playoffs , and a 10 - 6 finish in 2007 while barely missing the playoffs . Meanwhile , the Ravens have been more successful , reaching the playoffs seven times since 2000 and winning Super Bowl XXXV to the dismay of Browns fans . Longtime placekicker Matt Stover was the last remaining Raven that was with Modell ' s franchise during the move , having departed the team following the 2008 season when the team chose not to re - sign him . General manager and former Browns tight end Ozzie Newsome ( who was in a front - office role with Modell by the time of the move ) remains with the Modell franchise . Due to continual financial hardships , the NFL directed Modell to initiate the sale of his franchise . On March 27 , 2000 , NFL owners approved the sale of 49 % of the Ravens to Steve Bisciotti . In the deal , Bisciotti had an option to purchase the remaining 51 % for $ 325 million in 2004 from Art Modell . On April 8 , 2004 , the NFL approved Steve Bisciotti ' s purchase of the majority stake in the club . Although Modell has since retired and had relinquished control of the Ravens , he is still hated in Cleveland , which had been angry at him long before the move when he fired legendary head coach Paul Brown in 1963 . In fact , he is still so hated in Northeast Ohio that he was unable to attend the funeral of former Browns kicker Lou Groza due to the backlash Modell would get in Cleveland . One writer considered the Browns ' relocation and subsequent lawsuits costing Modell a spot in the Pro Football Hall of Fame , which is located in Canton , Ohio , just 60 miles south of Cleveland and is both part of the Cleveland television market and part of the Browns ' territorial rights . The move would also have an effect in Pittsburgh as well . Steelers owner Dan Rooney was one of two owners to oppose Modell ' s move to Baltimore due to a mutual respect for the team and the fans . Because of the move , the Browns – Steelers rivalry , arguably one of the most heated rivalries in the NFL , has somewhat cooled in Pittsburgh . The Steelers – Ravens rivalry is considered the spiritual successor by a small number of fans in Pittsburgh and is one of the most heated current rivalries in the NFL . Although the rivalry is not as intense in Pittsburgh , Browns fans still consider it their top rivalry despite the Browns ' recent struggles against the Steelers . The Browns lost twelve straight games to the Steelers from 2003 until 2009 and have a 4 - 20 record against Pittsburgh since the return of the Browns in 1999 . Effect on teams in other sports leagues . The NFL ' s deal with Cleveland set a legal precedent with other sports teams . The Minnesota Twins , when they signed their deal with Hennepin County , Minnesota for Target Field in 2006 , agreed to a provision that was signed into law that allows the state of Minnesota the right of first refusal to buy the team if it is ever sold , and requires that the name , colors , World Series trophies and history of the team remain in Minnesota if the Twins are ever moved out of state , a deal similar to what Modell agreed to with the city of Cleveland during the move . In December 2005 , the San Jose Earthquakes of Major League Soccer moved to Houston , Texas to become the Houston Dynamo . At the time , it was announced by the league that while players and staff would move with the team , the team name , colors , logo , and records ( including two championship trophies ) would stay in San Jose for when a new expansion team arrives . In 2008 , the Earthquakes returned under the ownership of Lew Wolff . When the Seattle SuperSonics moved to Oklahoma City , Oklahoma in 2008 , it was agreed that the ' SuperSonics ' name , logo , colors , and history would all be left in Seattle . This also includes banners and trophies , which would be displayed in a museum until a new franchise is brought to Seattle to be hung from the rafters of its arena . The original Sonics , now the Oklahoma City Thunder , will continue to keep the Sonics tie - ins including records , championships , and retired numbers until a new NBA franchise is brought to Seattle . The Thunder would be considered an expansion franchise established in 2008 . Very similar to the Cleveland Browns / Baltimore Ravens controversy . After the 1995 - 1996 season , the Winnipeg Jets relocated to Phoenix , Arizona in 1996 to become the now recently bankrupt , financially stabled Phoenix Coyotes where history , records , retired numbers , and stats continues to reside . 15 years later in May 2011 , the Atlanta Thrashers were relocated to Winnipeg , and took on the Jets moniker once again after the new owners announce the name in the 2011 NHL Entry Draft with fan support . Both incarnations will continue to be separate franchises .