The Browns will “not require personal seat licenses for any new season ticket buyers at FirstEnergy Stadium” in an effort to “increase attendance and benefit new season ticket holders," according to Andy Baskin of WEWS-ABC in Cleveland. The Browns said that current PSL owners who “have season tickets will still hold on to all PSL benefits.” The Browns season-ticket prices will “remain flat for the 2013 home schedule.” This marks the “fifth straight year in which the price of Browns season tickets has not increased, representing the second-longest current streak in the NFL.” In addition, with the current pricing structure, the average cost of a Browns ticket “is the second least expensive in the NFL.” Since the opening of FirstEnergy Stadium in ‘99, there have been “select sections which did not require a PSL for season ticket purchases.” This “will be expanded to all locations in which season tickets are still available” (NEWSNET5.com, 3/4). In Akron, Nate Ulrich reported only existing PSL holders “will have a chance to purchase additional season tickets without a PSL fee but with full PSL benefits for any additional seat they buy” (OHIO.com, 3/4). Browns President Alec Scheiner said, “This year we are going to work on improving all aspects of our game day experience, including cell phone service, which will undergo a significant upgrade starting in 2013.” He added, “We are fully committed to having a team that will be successful on a consistent basis, and providing our fans with a compelling game day experience" (CLEVELAND.com, 3/4).
BY THE NUMBERS: In Cleveland, Tom Reed noted the Browns under CEO Joe Banner “will crunch numbers in the scouting department.” The franchise is “joining a growing number of NFL teams utilizing analytics to evaluate everything from game-day situations to draft- and free-agent prospects to coaching candidates.” Banner said that Scheiner will “develop a similar model” to the one he used as Cowboys Senior VP & General Counsel along with “newly-hired Ken Kovash as his senior stats man.” Banner said, “Look, it’s an element. Some of the statisticians think it should dictate what you do and that would be a terrible mistake, but if you integrate it as another piece of information it can be very valuable.” Reed wrote Kovash “fits the outsiders’ profile.” He holds degrees in “economics, financing and marketing, and was working for the software giant, Mozilla, before the Cowboys offered him a position" in '10 (Cleveland PLAIN DEALER, 3/4).
