Cleveland fans are as die hard as they come. They’ve suffered through some of the worst sporting droughts and endured unprecedented treatment regarding their favorite sports teams and players (most notably the Browns leaving in 1996 & LeBron in 2010). However, as of late, the Cleveland Indians and the Cleveland Cavaliers have turned the sports town around and given real, genuine hope to their beloved fans of another Championship possibility.
The “Cleveland Curse” finally ended when the Cavaliers won Cleveland’s first championship in 52 years in 2016, which was an epic moment in all of sports history. The Indians have also been a very successful team in the past 2 decades, having gone to the World Series on 3 different occasions, going to Game 7 in two of those and winning the Central Division title 9 times. The Browns? Not a whisper…
As a result of these successful franchises, the Cavaliers have the largest NBA franchise evaluation for any city of it’s size (this is also singularly related to LeBron James) and the tickets sell out faster than Rover Fest. The Indians, although ticket sales are abysmal at times, still see great profits due to the finely tuned balanced budget and the profit sharing from other gateways and clubs that they face. At the end of the day, these teams that we all idolize are companies and these respective companies have employees (players). These employees are rewarded based on their play by fat salaries and bonuses, the same can be said for the owners and upper level members of management of the various clubs. When the teams play poorly, their pockets are hurt badly, they then have (in most cases) a drive and determination to get better, to be better, by any means – to achieve financial gains first and foremost and to have a great product (a winning team).
When done accordingly and desired results are achieved, jerseys sell off the racks, tickets are purchased to the point that websites go down (have fun trying to get a World Series ticket from Indians.com when they become available) and viewership goes through the roof. This is how it’s supposed to be, success on the field is in turn rewarded by the fans, by the customers… The same cannot be said for the Cleveland Browns. The Cleveland Browns are simply entitled.
For some reason, the city of Cleveland is and will probably always be known as a “football town”. This is long decried by the various sports talk shows and the hosts that run them as they continue to pound and force feed extensive coverage of the Cleveland Browns. The Indians were in the midst of another historic season filled with record setting win streaks and high hopes of another World Series appearance, yet all the talk was about the disastrous Cleveland Browns… Every single multifaceted sports talk show in Cleveland from “The Really Big Show” to the “The Fan” is all guilty of this. Part of the reason is because some people are simply stuck in the past, while others are simply paid to do so. Tony Rizzo, host of The Really Big Show is still living the glory days of the Bernie Kosar era, when he first started out on the sidelines of the Browns and running into the back of the locker room just to get a quick sound bite. All the while others (reasonably) still hold extreme resentment for Art Modell uprooting the Browns from Cleveland and leaving town for Baltimore, and so they have a never ending and relentless passion deep within them to continue on, no matter what!
There is a simple truth to the entire situation, there is an actual algorithm as to why the Cleveland Browns are a stale product and persistent failure. The reality is that the NFL and the Cleveland Browns are nothing more than a business. Their entire business model plays on the passions and emotions of the fans in order to turn over and generate profits. First, they use the local municipalities and it’s citizens as pawns in an effective method regarding taxation. In all cases, this creates additional value to the franchise and it’s owners through tax payers via stadium upgrades funded extensively from tax levies and donations. This is all done seamlessly and effortlessly year after year after year. Next comes the hype, followed by the draft – a promising player, culminated with the news, followed by a free agent with a fresh new face and dynamic talents. All bundled up with “this is the year” which is then always followed by “next years definitely the year guys!” Wrong…
The Mass Manipulated Millions
In a perfect example many Americans will try to buy American made vehicles or products. This is precisely how Walmart became successful and a household name, by manipulating the passions of everyday Americans. This was accomplished simply by selling strictly American products, until they built an incredible following at which time they weened out the USA made goods for the cheaper Chinese products in favor of shareholders, i.e.; additional profits. This is what is happening with the Cleveland Browns – manipulation of the fan purely for profit.
The Cleveland Browns are best compared to the Ford Motor Company, over time Ford lost the devout American consumer due to their manipulation tactics inability to sustain reality. The reality was an illusion (just like the Browns). Ford became comfortable with their product and assumed that they would retain their American clientele no matter what. Therefore they didn’t invest into technology and allowed their line of cars to break down and overtime that technology overtook the massive company by storm as the foreign Japanese automakers who invested all of their profits into creating something new, durable and better priced rose to the top. It took the Ford Motor Company decades to reverse the trend and they are still trying to play catch up for their sole reliance on mass manipulation (wakeup Jimmy it’s time to run the Browns like Pilot J). As of today Ford is the Fifth Largest Automaker based on worldwide vehicle sales, when in reality, they should still be number one or two.
COBRA Says: The Cleveland Browns are the worst team in the NFL in 2017. The worst, out of 32 teams. They are consistently one of the top 5 worst teams in the NFL. Yet they are still making millions and still selling tickets… The manipulation on the emotions and passions is clearly evident. What a bunch of scumbags!
“If you want the Browns to be good, you need to show them financially just how badly you want to win!”
Through these various manipulative tactics that are deployed the Cleveland Browns are able to keep everything the same. As a result of steady revenue there is no need to truly invest into qualified management, proven scouts or free agent players that will create a winning team. They have done this effectively, using their own and the NFL’s extremely successful advertising campaigns that prey purely on individuals passions and emotions with manipulative slogans such as “Rise Up” and “All For One” (these slogans are not unique to just the city of Cleveland). They have masterfully analyzed the “buyer personas” in each region (that would be you, the fan), from there, they are able to deploy manipulative local campaigns that are culminated with stadium upgrades, jersey and logo alterations & slick new slogans into the veins of all the devout and faithful. When understanding why the Cleveland Browns are a failure year after year, it should be obvious… There is no incentive to be great. Doing so would actually result in reduced profits. As it stands, the Cleveland Browns owner, management, players, sponsors & the NFL all reap immense rewards and profits. The only losers here are the fans who spend their hard earned money and time on a refurbished defunct product that continuously breaks down on each “drive” week after week. Once again referencing Ford where it’s acronym most famously became “Found On Road Dead”… The Cleveland Browns are a horrible product and nothing will change unless the fans realize the manipulation that they have fallen under the spell of. For the Cleveland Browns to produce a championship caliber team would require top tier drafts and free agents – all of which would need to be retained at the highest salary and over a prolonged period of time. A single playoff game or two would not result in the required allotment necessary to maintain the current profitability of the franchise. The mathematical and strategical precision has been thus far flawless (that is… until the fan base comes to the realization of the true nature and function of the business model that is in place in Cleveland).
To truly understand and realize the manipulation that has been set into place, one would have to remove themselves of their emotions, hopes, desires and dreams. Those hopes, desires and dreams of obtaining something that isn’t anywhere near the realm of possibility at this point in time (as the Browns new head coach has gone 1-21 since taking over the team) and the Browns look worse than they did when they first came back to the league in 1999 – where is Tim Couch at anyways? Maybe we could bring him and Courtney Brown back to the squad… In all reality, it’s a business folks and you’re nothing more than a means to their enrichment. If you want the Browns to be good, you need to show them financially just how badly you want to win! Stop watching, stop attending and stop spending your money immediately on the Cleveland Browns. Only then will they truly invest into the company (team) once their profits begin to fall and only then will the Browns live up to your expectations!
SCUMBAGGED Tip: Instead of wasting time watching the Cleveland Browns this coming Sunday, instead spend some time with your family or perhaps do something constructive for a change. Turn off the TV for once, don’t go to the bar and maybe try to invest your money and time into something that can be gainful to you. I’m sure someone out there will create something incedible, something that’s worthwhile and actually makes a difference, unlike the disaster we DON’T have to watch flailing about on the field week after week, year after year.
