The Cleveland sports community is anchored by three major league professional sports teams: the Cleveland Browns (National Football League), Cleveland Guardians (Major League Baseball), and Cleveland Cavaliers (National Basketball Association). The city is also home to two minor league affiliates that serve as developmental teams for major league franchises: the Cleveland Monsters (American Hockey League, affiliated with the Columbus Blue Jackets of the NHL) and Cleveland Charge (NBA G League, affiliated with the Cavaliers). Another minor league team, the Cleveland Crunch, play in Major League Indoor Soccer. Local sporting facilities include Progressive Field, Huntington Bank Field, Rocket Mortgage FieldHouse, the Wolstein Center, and the I-X Center.
Historically, the Browns have been among the winningest franchises in American football history winning eight titles during a short period of time—1946, 1947, 1948, 1949, 1950, 1954, 1955, and 1964. The Browns have never played in a Super Bowl, getting a game away five times making it to the NFL/AFC Championship Game in 1968, 1969, 1986, 1987, and 1989. Former owner Art Modell's relocation of the Browns after the 1995 season (to Baltimore creating the Ravens), caused tremendous heartbreak and resentment among local fans.[1] Cleveland mayor, Michael R. White, worked with the NFL and Commissioner Paul Tagliabue to bring back the Browns beginning in 1999 season, retaining all team history.[2] In earlier NFL history, the Cleveland Bulldogs won the NFL Championship in 1924, and the Cleveland Rams won the NFL Championship in 1945 before relocating to Los Angeles.
The Cleveland Guardians (then known as the Indians) won the World Series in 1920 and 1948. They also won the American League pennant, making the World Series in the 1954, 1995, 1997, and 2016 seasons. Between 1995 and 2001, Progressive Field (then known as Jacobs Field) sold out 455 consecutive games, a Major League Baseball record until it was broken in 2008.[3] The franchise changed its name beginning with the 2022 season from the Indians to the Guardians.
The Cavaliers have won the Eastern Conference in 2007, 2015, 2016, 2017 and 2018. The team's first and only NBA championship was won in 2016 after coming back from a 3–1 deficit, defeating the defending champions Golden State Warriors. Afterwards, an estimated 1.3 million people attended a parade held in the Cavs honor on June 22, 2016. This was the first time the city had planned for a championship parade in 50 years.[4] Basketball, the Cleveland Rosenblums dominated the original American Basketball League winning three of the first five championships (1926, 1929, 1930), and the Cleveland Pipers, owned by George Steinbrenner, won the American Basketball League championship in 1962.
From 1964–2016, the city's failure to win a trophy in any major professional sport earned a reputation of being a cursed sports city, extensively covered by the 2016 ESPN 30 for 30 documentary Believeland.[5] In addition, changes in the Cleveland sports landscape led to further heartbreak and resentment among local fans, the most notable instances being Art Modell's relocation of the Browns to Baltimore after the 1995 season (that franchise became the Ravens, with the current Browns team starting play in 1999), and Akron native LeBron James' decision to leave the Cavaliers in 2010 for the Miami Heat.[1] The Cleveland city sports curse is considered to have ended in June 2016, when the Cavaliers won the NBA Championship against the defending champion Golden State Warriors.[6] Shortly before the Cavaliers' victory, the Monsters defeated the Hershey Bears to become AHL champions, the first time a Cleveland hockey team had won the Calder Cup since 1964.
Notable Cleveland athletes to win top individual accolades include boxer Johnny Kilbane, U.S. Olympic Hall of Fame track and field competitors Jesse Owens and Harrison Dillard, mixed martial artist Stipe Miocic, snowboarder Red Gerard, pole vaulter Katie Nageotte, and professional wrestlers Mike "The Miz" Mizanin and Dolph Ziggler (real name Nic Nemeth). Kilbane had a 12-year reign as World Featherweight Champion and is an International Boxing Hall of Fame inductee. Owens, who grew up in Cleveland after moving from Alabama when he was nine, participated in the 1936 Summer Olympics in Berlin, where he achieved international fame by winning four gold medals: one each in the 100 meters, the 200 meters, the long jump, and as part of the 4 x 100 meter relay team. Cleveland native Dillard is a four-time Olympic gold medalist, having won his medals during the 1948 and 1952 Summer Olympics in various track and field events. Cleveland State University alum and area native Miocic is a two-time UFC World Heavyweight Champion. Area natives Gerard and Nagotte won Olympic gold medals for snowboarding (2018 Winter Olympics) and pole vaulting (2020 Summer Olympics) respectively. Area natives Mizanin and Ziggler are both two-time World Champions in WWE, with Mizanin holding the WWE Championship and Ziggler the World Heavyweight Championship.[7][8][9][10]
- ^ a b Walker, James (July 13, 2010). "Take your pick recap: LeBron vs. Modell". ESPN.com. Retrieved July 27, 2010.
- ^ Kroll, John (September 6, 2012). "When Art Modell moved his Cleveland Browns team to Baltimore: How The Plain Dealer reported it". Plain Dealer. Retrieved June 26, 2016.
- ^ Burt, Bill (September 9, 2008). "Sellouts! Record 456 and counting for Sox". Eagle Tribune. Archived from the original on September 3, 2012. Retrieved September 10, 2008.
- ^ Windhorst, Brian; McMenamin, Dave (2017-04-11). Return of the king : LeBron James, the Cleveland Cavaliers, and the greatest comeback in NBA history (First ed.). New York. ISBN 9781478971689. OCLC 979415121.
{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link) - ^ "Ending to 'Believeland' 30 for 30 to change". CBSSports.com.
- ^ Lee, Edward (June 22, 2016). "Cavs End the Curse in Cleveland". Huffington Post. Archived from the original on July 10, 2016. Retrieved July 12, 2016.
- ^ "Red Gerard: The Cleveland pride picture you have to see". WKYC. 12 February 2018.
- ^ Cleveland native Katie Nageotte takes home gold in women's pole vault at Tokyo Olympics - News 5 Cleveland.com (WEWS)
- ^ WWE Championship - WWE.com
- ^ World Heavyweight Championship - WWE.com