Cleveland Mayor Mike White addressed a Saturday rally of
about 300 fans starting a campaign to mobilize a national "Save
Our Browns" effort. Strategies include wearing orange armbands,
organizing an auto and bus caravan to tonight's game in
Pittsburgh and calling and faxing the NFL office and every NFL
owner. A spokesperson for Art Modell's Stadium Corp. confirmed a
message sent from Modell to White through a mutual friend: "If
the mayor calls me a liar once more, I will work against him
getting an NFL team." Sunday's PLAIN DEALER printed the phone
and fax numbers for the NFL and team front offices (Cleveland
PLAIN DEALER, 11/12). KDKA radio in Pittsburgh plans to
distribute 30,000 orange armbands to fans tonight (Akron BEACON
JOURNAL, 11/12).
OUT CLAUSE? City officials are charging that Modell signed
a faulty "out clause" with himself as operator of Cleveland
Stadium on October 27, the day he announced the move. The
revision, which city attorneys are referring to as a "silver
bullet," calls on Modell to pay the city $3.6M -- the estimate of
rent and admission taxes the Browns would have paid through '98
(Baltimore SUN, 11/11). Robert Weber, Modell's attorney:
"There's nothing in the lease that gives the city any rights"
(Richard Sandomir, N.Y. TIMES, 11/12).
MORE BROWN-OUTS: Anheuser-Busch will drop all advertising
from Browns radio broadcasts, and SportsChannel Ohio has decided
to pull all Browns-related programming (Akron BEACON JOURNAL,
11/11). On Friday, Continental Airlines canceled its Browns
advertising (Continental). In response to a call for a boycott
over Domino's because of its NFL ties, the company issued a
release noting its sponsorship of NBC's Halftime Report is a
national deal, and that Cleveland-area Domino's pizza franchises
are not local Browns sponsors (Domino's). Cleveland's WWWE
signed a deal to carry Bengals games starting yesterday. The
station will offer free time to the companies which pulled ads
from remaining Browns games (Akron BEACON JOURNAL, 11/11).
BASEBALL COUNTERPARTS: In Baltimore, John Steadman examines
how the Browns' lease could bring the Orioles "an astonishing
windfall." The Orioles' lease with the Maryland Stadium
Authority calls for parity with any NFL team. But, while the
Browns will play rent-free, the Orioles are currently paying $6M
a year in rent. Orioles Vice Chair Joe Foss: "We'll need to
make a thorough evaluation with our lawyers. There is no need
for urgency." Steadman notes that MD taxpayers "could gain less
financially from two major-league franchises than they were
getting from one" (Baltimore SUN, 11/12). In Atlanta, Thomas
Stinson notes Indians Owner Dick Jacobs has put a freeze on
comments from his team on the Browns' situation, lending
"credence to the report that Jacobs is interested in bringing
another NFL franchise to the city" (ATLANTA CONSTITUTION, 11/12).
DAWGFRANCHISESPOUND.COM? ESPN's Chris Mortensen notes the -
Modells' address in Palm Beach was put out on the internet last
week ("NFL Gameday," ESPN, 11/12).
