Sports in Cleveland facts for kids
The Cleveland sports community is anchored by three major league professional sports teams: the Cleveland Browns (National Football League), Cleveland Guardians (Major League Baseball), and Cleveland Cavaliers (National Basketball Association). The city is also home to two minor league affiliates that serve as developmental teams for a major league franchise: the Cleveland Monsters (American Hockey League, affiliated with the Columbus Blue Jackets of the NHL) and Cleveland Charge (NBA G League, affiliated with the Cavaliers). Another minor league team, the Cleveland Crunch, play in Major Arena Soccer League 2. Local sporting facilities include Progressive Field, FirstEnergy Stadium, Rocket Mortgage FieldHouse and the Wolstein Center.
Historically, the Browns have been among the winningest franchises in American football history winning eight titles during a short period of time—1946, 1947, 1948, 1949, 1950, 1954, 1955, and 1964. The Browns have never played in a Super Bowl, getting a game away five times making it to the NFL/AFC Championship Game in 1968, 1969, 1986, 1987, and 1989. Former owner Art Modell's relocation of the Browns after the 1995 season (to Baltimore creating the Ravens), caused tremendous heartbreak and resentment among local fans. Cleveland mayor, Michael R. White, worked with the NFL and Commissioner Paul Tagliabue to bring back the Browns beginning in 1999 season, retaining all team history. In earlier NFL history, the Cleveland Bulldogs won the NFL Championship in 1924, and the Cleveland Rams won the NFL Championship in 1945 before relocating to Los Angeles.
The Cleveland Guardians (then known as the Indians) won the World Series in 1920 and 1948. They also won the American League pennant, making the World Series in the 1954, 1995, 1997, and 2016 seasons. Between 1995 and 2001, Progressive Field (then known as Jacobs Field) sold out 455 consecutive games, a Major League Baseball record until it was broken in 2008. The franchise changed its name beginning with the 2022 season from the Indians to the Guardians.
The Cavaliers have won the Eastern Conference in 2007, 2015, 2016, 2017 and 2018. The team's first and only NBA championship was won in 2016 after coming back from a 3–1 deficit, defeating the defending champions Golden State Warriors. Afterwards, an estimated 1.3 million people attended a parade held in the Cavs honor on June 22, 2016. This was the first time the city had planned for a championship parade in 50 years. Basketball, the Cleveland Rosenblums dominated the original American Basketball League winning three of the first five championships (1926, 1929, 1930), and the Cleveland Pipers, owned by George Steinbrenner, won the American Basketball League championship in 1962.
From 1964–2016, the city's failure to win a trophy in any major professional sport earned a reputation of being a cursed sports city, extensively covered by the 2016 ESPN 30 for 30 documentary Believeland. In addition, changes in the Cleveland sports landscape led to further heartbreak and resentment among local fans, the most notable instances being Art Modell's relocation of the Browns to Baltimore after the 1995 season (that franchise became the Ravens, with the current Browns team starting play in 1999), and Akron native LeBron James' decision to leave the Cavaliers in 2010 for the Miami Heat. The Cleveland city sports curse is considered to have ended in June 2016, when the Cavaliers won the NBA Championship against the defending champion Golden State Warriors. Shortly before the Cavaliers' victory, the Monsters defeated the Hershey Bears to become AHL champions, the first time a Cleveland hockey team had won the Calder Cup since 1964.
Notable Cleveland athletes to win top individual accolades include boxer Johnny Kilbane, U.S. Olympic Hall of Fame track and field competitors Jesse Owens and Harrison Dillard, mixed martial artist Stipe Miocic, snowboarder Red Gerard, pole vaulter Katie Nageotte, and professional wrestlers Mike "The Miz" Mizanin and Dolph Ziggler. Kilbane had a 12-year reign as World Featherweight Champion and is an International Boxing Hall of Fame inductee. Owens, who grew up in Cleveland after moving from Alabama when he was nine, participated in the 1936 Summer Olympics in Berlin, where he achieved international fame by winning four gold medals: one each in the 100 meters, the 200 meters, the long jump, and as part of the 4 x 100 meter relay team. Cleveland native Dillard is a four-time Olympic gold medalist, having won his medals during the 1948 and 1952 Summer Olympics in various track and field events. Cleveland State University alum and area native Miocic is a two-time UFC World Heavyweight Champion. Area natives Gerard and Nagotte won Olympic gold medals for snowboarding (2018 Winter Olympics) and pole vaulting (2020 Summer Olympics) respectively. Area natives Mizanin and Ziggler are both two-time World Champions in WWE, with Mizanin holding the WWE Championship and Ziggler the World Heavyweight Championship.
Contents
Major Events
Event | Number | Venue | Years |
---|---|---|---|
MLB All Star Game | 5 | Cleveland Municipal Stadium Progressive Field (then Jacobs Field) |
1935, 1954, 1963, 1981 1997 |
NBA All Star Game | 1 | Quicken Loans Arena (then Gund Arena) | 1997 |
International Gay Games | 1 | Quicken Loans Arena, multiple venues | 2014 |
Ultimate Fighting Championship | 1 | Quicken Loans Arena | 2016 (UFC 203) |
Organizations
Professional
Present
Club | Sport | League | Venue | Est. in CLE | Championships |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Cleveland Browns | Football | National Football League | FirstEnergy Stadium | 1946 | 8 (4 AAFC, 4 NFL) |
Cleveland Cavaliers | Basketball | National Basketball Association | Quicken Loans Arena | 1970 | 1 |
Cleveland Indians | Baseball | Major League Baseball | Progressive Field | 1900 | 2 |
Cleveland Monsters | Ice Hockey | American Hockey League | Quicken Loans Arena | 2007 | 1 |
Cleveland Gladiators | Arena Football | Arena Football League | Quicken Loans Arena | 2008 | 0 |
Past
Club | League | Venue | First season (in Cleveland) |
Last season (in Cleveland) |
Fate of team | Championships (in Cleveland) |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Cleveland Barons | National Hockey League | Richfield Coliseum | 1976 | 1978 | Merged with Minnesota North Stars | 0 |
Cleveland Blues | National League | Kennard Street Park | 1879 | 1884 | Absorbed into the Brooklyn Dodgers | 0 |
Cleveland Indians/Bulldogs | National Football League | Dunn Field | 1923 | 1927 | Moved to Detroit | 1 |
Cleveland Rams | American Football League National Football League |
League Park Cleveland Municipal Stadium Shaw Stadium |
1936 | 1945 | Moved to Los Angeles | 1 |
Cleveland Indians/Tigers | Ohio League American Professional Football Association National Football League |
League Park | 1916 | 1922 | Team folded | 0 |
Cleveland Indians of 1931 | National Football League | Cleveland Municipal Stadium | 1931 | 1931 | Team folded | 0 |
Cleveland Spiders | American Association National League |
League Park National League Park |
1887 | 1899 | Team folded | 0 |
Cleveland Rosenblums | American Basketball League | Cleveland Public Hall | 1925 | 1931 | Team folded | 3 |
Cleveland Barons | American Hockey League | Cleveland Arena | 1937 | 1973 | Moved to Jacksonville | 9 |
Cleveland Rebels | Basketball Association of America | Cleveland Arena | 1946 | 1947 | Team folded | 0 |
Cleveland Pipers | American Basketball League | Cleveland Public Hall Cleveland Arena |
1961 | 1962 | Team folded | 1 |
Cleveland Crusaders | World Hockey Association | Cleveland Arena Richfield Coliseum |
1972 | 1976 | Moved to Saint Paul | 0 |
Cleveland Force | Major Indoor Soccer League | Richfield Coliseum | 1978 | 1988 | Team folded | 0 |
Cleveland Crunch/Force | Major Soccer League National Professional Soccer League Major Indoor Soccer League |
Richfield Coliseum Wolstein Center |
1989 | 2005 | Team folded | 3 |
Cleveland Thunderbolts | Arena Football League | Richfield Coliseum | 1992 | 1994 | Team folded | 0 |
Cleveland Lumberjacks | International Hockey League | Richfield Coliseum Gund Arena |
1992 | 2001 | Team folded | 0 |
Cleveland Rockers | Women's National Basketball Association | Gund Arena | 1997 | 2003 | Team folded | 0 |
Cleveland Barons | American Hockey League | Gund Arena | 2001 | 2006 | Moved to Worcester | 0 |
Cleveland Crush | Legends Football League | Quicken Loans Arena | 2011 | 2013 | Moved to Toledo | 0 |
Collegiate
Club | Sport | League | Venue | Location |
---|---|---|---|---|
Cleveland State Vikings | 16 Varsity (7 men's, 9 women's) | NCAA Division I (Horizon League) | various - including: Krenzler Field (soccer) Wolstein Center (men's and women's basketball) Woodling Gym (wrestling and volleyball) |
Cleveland |
Case Western Reserve Spartans | 19 Varsity (10 men's, 9 women's) | NCAA Division III (University Athletic Association) | various - including: DiSanto Field (football, soccer) Veale Athletic Center (men's and women's basketball) |
Cleveland |
Current venues
Facility name | Year opened |
---|---|
FirstEnergy Stadium | 1999 |
Progressive Field | 1994 |
Quicken Loans Arena | 1994 |
Wolstein Center | 1991 |
DiSanto Field | 2005 |
Championships
Championship | Champion | Number | Years |
---|---|---|---|
World Series | Indians | 2 | 1920, 1948 |
AAFC Championship | Browns | 4 | 1946, 1947, 1948, 1949 |
NFL Championship | Bulldogs Rams Browns |
1 1 4 |
1924 1945 1950, 1954, 1955, 1964 |
Calder Cup | Barons Monsters |
9 1 |
1939, 1941, 1945, 1948, 1951, 1953, 1954, 1957, 1964 2016 |
NBA Championship | Cavaliers | 1 | 2016 |
- Boldface for reigning champions
College sports
The headquarters of the Mid-American Conference (MAC) are located in Cleveland. The conference also stages both its men's and women's basketball tournaments at Rocket Mortgage FieldHouse.
In NCAA Division I, Cleveland State University fields 16 varsity sports playing in the Horizon League. The Cleveland State Vikings men's and women's basketball teams play their home games at the Wolstein Center. The university has periodically considered forming a non-scholarship Division I FCS football program.
In NCAA Division III, Case Western Reserve University fields 19 varsity sports playing in the UAA. Most notably, in both present day and in Cleveland pastime, is the Case Western Reserve Spartans football team, who boasts a history of football dating back to 1890. Home games are played at DiSanto Field in University Circle.
Although there is no Division I college football team based in the city itself, Cleveland is nationally known for its support of Ohio State Buckeyes football. This is due to the team playing occasional games in Cleveland throughout the years, the large fan base of the Buckeyes (including many Ohio State alumni in the Cleveland/NE Ohio area), and numerous Cleveland area high school standouts playing for OSU (such as Glenville High School alums Troy Smith, winner of the 2006 Heisman Trophy, and 2014 National Championship winning quarterback Cardale Jones). Cleveland's devotion to Buckeyes football has been documented by fan surveys, television ratings, and even the Terminal Tower being lit up in scarlet and gray during OSU's 2014 National Championship run.
The most notable college football win for Cleveland was the city’s only college football bowl game victory—the 1941 Sun Bowl—where the Western Reserve Red Cats, now known as Case Western Reserve University, defeated the Arizona State Bulldogs, now nicknamed Sun Devils, 26–13.
Images for kids
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Dragon boat racing on the Cuyahoga River