Browns stadium name change: Cleveland going back to its roots ahead of 2023 season

The Cleveland Browns‘ home field will have a similar name for the 2023 season. The team announced it has ended its naming rights agreement with FirstEnergy Corp. and will again call their home site Cleveland Browns Stadium. 

The 67,000-plus seat stadium was originally called Cleveland Browns Stadium when it opened its doors in 1999. It was renamed to FirstEnergy Stadium in 2013. 

“We’ve had a great association with FirstEnergy for more than two decades, and we appreciate this partnership and what it has created for our team and the broader northeast Ohio community,” said Haslam Sports Group COO Dave Jenkins. “We reached this amicable agreement that is consistent with the productive relationship we have always enjoyed, and we wish FirstEnergy success with their future initiatives. Our home stadium will return to its former name, Cleveland Browns Stadium.”

Cleveland Browns Stadium is located on the site of Cleveland Municipal Stadium, which had served as the home site of Cleveland’s pro football and baseball teams for over 60 years. Cleveland’s baseball team moved to their new home in 1994, while the Browns left town for Baltimore after the 1995 season. 

Construction for Cleveland Browns Stadium began in the spring of 1997 after the NFL had agreed to reactivate the Browns by the start of the 1999 season. The stadium hosted its first regular-season home game in front of a nationally televised audience on Sept. 12, 1999. Unfortunately for Browns fans, their first game in the new stadium was a 43-0 loss to the Steelers.

Cleveland Browns Stadium and Allegiant Stadium (the home of the Las Vegas Raiders) are the NFL’s only two venues that have not hosted a postseason contest of any kind. The Browns’ last home playoff win took place in 1994, when Bill Belichick led Cleveland to a win over Bill Parcells’ Patriots in the AFC wild card round.