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VERIFY

Clearing up misinformation about a possible new stadium for the Cleveland Browns: VERIFY

People posting on social media have the wrong idea about a few key facts tied to a possible new location for Cleveland Browns stadium

CLEVELAND — With all of this talk about the owners of the Cleveland Browns, Jimmy and Dee Haslam, looking at a new stadium location in Brook Park, we're VERIFYING some claims we've seen floating around on social media.

CLAIM 1

First, we saw this question pop up: "If the stadium moves to Brook Park, will the team have to be called the Brook Park Browns?"

THE SOURCES

To VERIFY the answer to this question, we looked at where the home stadium is located for these three NFL teams:

THE EXPLANATION

As it turns out, the Buffalo Bills play at Highmark Stadium, which is actually located in Orchard Park, New York. The Dallas Cowboys hang their hats at AT&T Stadium in Arlington, Texas, and the San Francisco 49ers kick off home games at Levi's Stadium in Santa Clara, California (more than an hour south of San Francisco.

THE ANSWER

So we can VERIFY that the Browns won’t have to change the team name to the Brook Park Browns, if the owners move the stadium out of downtown Cleveland and into the Brook Park neighborhood.

CLAIM 2

Next, we saw a post from someone named Thomas Murin, saying that he's heard that the Haslams are in talks to move the Browns to St. Louis.

THE SOURCES

To VERIFY the answer to this question, we went straight to the source: We looked at an interview from owner Jimmy Haslam that he gave at during training camp at the Greenbriar in West Virginia on July 24, 2023.

THE EXPLANATION

Here's what Jimmy said: "The only thing Dee and I would say for sure is we're not leaving Northeastern, Ohio. OK? That's for sure."

THE ANSWER

So we can VERIFY that (at least as of last July) the Haslams have promised that moving the team to St. Louis, let alone anywhere outside of Northeast Ohio, is not an option.

CLAIM 3

Last, we saw a Facebook comment from Bret Kirby suggesting that Cleveland needs to have a covered NFL stadium in order to host a Super Bowl.

THE SOURCES

To VERIFY the answer to this question, we looked to the Pro Football Hall of Fame in Canton.

THE EXPLANATION

On the Pro Football Hall of Fame website, we can see that of the 30 NFL stadiums, 10 of them are covered, and a Super Bowl has taken place in each of those covered stadiums.

But there's at least one open-air stadium where the weather gets cold in February where a Super Bowl was hosted. It was at MetLife Stadium in East Rutherford, New Jersey (home of the New York Giants and Jets), in February of 2014, when the Seattle Seahawks beat the Denver Broncos, 43-8.

THE ANSWER

So we can VERIFY that even though having a covered stadium might make it much more likely for Cleveland to host a Super Bowl, it's actually not technically required to make it happen.

If you'd like a claim or question VERIFIED, you can email it to us at verify@wkyc.com or text it to us at (216) 344-3300.