Rights to air Browns preseason telecasts in the Cleveland area could be up for grabs after this seasonGETTY IMAGES
The Browns are "entering the final season of two notable media rights deals," according to sources cited by Kevin Kleps of CRAIN'S CLEVELAND. One of the deals, with WEWS-ABC in Cleveland, gives the station "rights to the Browns' preseason games and other shoulder programming," while the other is a "unique radio deal" made with Good Karma Broadcasting and CBS Radio in '13. WEWS VP & GM Steve Weinstein said that the station's deal with the Browns, which began in '15, was for five years, with the team "holding an option that could 'roll it over another two years.'" Weinstein and other sources "anticipate that the team will entertain bids for programming that is highlighted by four preseason contests." WKYC-NBC President & GM Micki Byrnes said that if and when the Browns "solicit bids for the preseason and shoulder programming," his station "will express its interest." Kleps noted WJW-Fox could also "want in on the action." What the team does with its "next radio deal could be intriguing, since the current one, which is entering its seventh season, was the first of its kind in the NFL." At the time of the deal, the Browns "brought Cleveland's two all-sports stations" -- ESPN Radio Cleveland 850 and WKRK-FM -- "together for a deal that resulted in more than 1,000 annual hours of team programming and a three-way game-day broadcast" including WNCX-FM (CRAINSCLEVELAND.com, 5/20).
