The 2016 Cavaliers celebrate Cleveland's first major sports championship in 52 years
In the Archive · 1901 to Present
Sports & Loyalty
Cleveland's relationship with professional sports is defined less by its championships than by the distance between them. The Browns won four NFL titles between 1950 and 1964 — the longest drought in major American sports followed. The Indians won the 1948 World Series. The Cavaliers were founded in 1970. Between 1964 and 2016, the city's three major franchises produced no championships across a combined 150 team-seasons. Fans kept showing up anyway. That is the story.
52
Year Drought, 1964–2016
4
Browns NFL Titles
2
Indians World Series Titles
1
Cavaliers NBA Title
League Park and Early Baseball
League Park · East 66th and Lexington, opened 1891
Cleveland's American League franchise played its home games at League Park, a wooden ballpark at East 66th and Lexington Avenue, from 1901 until 1946. The park was tiny: its right-field wall was 290 feet from home plate, topped by a forty-foot screen. Everything about it was idiosyncratic, and the Indians of the 1910s and 1920s played baseball shaped by its dimensions.
The team's first great era came under player-manager Tris Speaker, who led the club to its first World Series title in 1920. That championship was the last on Cleveland Municipal Stadium was built for 1931, though the team played at League Park for league games until 1946 and at the much larger Stadium for marquee games.
The 1948 championship, managed by Lou Boudreau and starring pitcher Bob Feller and rookie Larry Doby (the first Black player in the American League), was the team's second and last until 1995. The club reached the World Series in both 1995 and 1997 and lost both. League Park itself was mostly demolished in 1951; portions of the outfield wall and ticket booth still stand, preserved as a historic site.
The Browns
The Cleveland Browns were the dominant American professional football team of the late 1940s and 1950s. Founded in 1946 under coach Paul Brown — one of the most influential figures in football history, inventor of the face mask, the draw play, the radio-equipped quarterback helmet, and the modern practice of film study — the team won all four championships of the short-lived All-America Football Conference (1946–49). When the AAFC merged into the NFL in 1950, the Browns won the NFL title in their first year in the league. They appeared in six consecutive NFL championship games (1950–55), won three of them, and won a fourth in 1964.
The 1964 championship is the one that haunts Cleveland sports. Jim Brown, arguably the greatest running back in professional football history, led the team to a 27–0 shutout of the Baltimore Colts in the NFL title game on December 27, 1964. It was Cleveland's last major professional sports championship for the next 52 years.
"You learn to lose in Cleveland. You don't learn to like it. You learn to live with it, and you learn to come back the next year."
— Joe Tait, longtime Cavaliers broadcaster
The Browns were famously moved to Baltimore by owner Art Modell in 1996, becoming the Ravens. After a three-year civic fight, the NFL granted Cleveland an expansion franchise that kept the Browns name, colors, and statistical history. The expansion Browns began play in 1999 and have not appeared in a conference championship game since.
The Shot, The Drive, The Fumble
Between 1986 and 1997, Cleveland experienced four professional-sports defeats that became shorthand for the city's status in American sports. Three of them had nicknames.
The Drive — January 11, 1987. John Elway led the Denver Broncos on a 98-yard touchdown drive in the final five minutes of the AFC Championship Game at Cleveland Municipal Stadium, tying the game and forcing overtime. Denver won. Cleveland did not reach the Super Bowl.
The Fumble — January 17, 1988. One year later, at the AFC Championship Game in Denver, Browns running back Earnest Byner fumbled at the three-yard line with 65 seconds remaining and the Browns trailing by seven. Denver recovered. Cleveland did not reach the Super Bowl.
The Shot — May 7, 1989. In Game 5 of the first round of the NBA playoffs, Michael Jordan hit a double-clutching buzzer-beater over Craig Ehlo at the Richfield Coliseum. The Bulls won the series; the Cavaliers went home.
1997 World Series, Game 7 — October 26, 1997. The Indians led the Florida Marlins 2–1 entering the bottom of the ninth inning. Closer Jose Mesa allowed the tying run. Florida won in the eleventh. Cleveland did not win the World Series.
Progressive Field (Jacobs Field) · opened 1994, home of the Guardians
The Championship
LeBron James was born in Akron in 1984, drafted first overall by the Cavaliers in 2003, left for the Miami Heat in 2010, won two NBA titles there, and returned to Cleveland in the summer of 2014 with a Sports Illustrated essay titled "I'm Coming Home." His stated purpose was to win Cleveland a championship.
The 2015–16 Cavaliers season ended with the team trailing the Golden State Warriors three games to one in the NBA Finals. The Warriors had won 73 regular-season games, the most in NBA history. No team had ever come back from a 3–1 Finals deficit. Cleveland did.
In Game 7, on June 19, 2016, at Oracle Arena in Oakland, James blocked Andre Iguodala's layup in the closing minutes — a play now simply called The Block. Kyrie Irving hit a three-pointer with 53 seconds remaining to give Cleveland a three-point lead. The Cavaliers won 93–89. James finished with 27 points, 11 rebounds, and 11 assists, the first player ever to lead both teams in every major statistical category in an NBA Finals.
An estimated 1.3 million people attended the championship parade in downtown Cleveland on June 22, 2016 — more than the population of the city itself.
The Franchises
Cleveland Guardians
Previously the Cleveland Blues (1901), Naps (1903–14), and Indians (1915–2021). World Series champions in 1920 and 1948. Renamed Guardians in 2022.
Cleveland Browns
Named for founding coach Paul Brown. Four AAFC titles, four NFL titles (1950, 1954, 1955, 1964). Relocated to Baltimore in 1996; expansion franchise granted 1999.
Cleveland Cavaliers
Played in Richfield (1974–94) and downtown Cleveland (1970–74, 1994–present). One NBA title (2016). Five Finals appearances, all between 2007 and 2018.
Cleveland Barons
Briefly the only NHL team in Cleveland, having been relocated from California. Merged into the Minnesota North Stars in 1978. The city has not held an NHL franchise since.
Sports Timeline
- American League Founded1901
Cleveland Blues play as charter members of the new American League. - First World Series Title1920
Cleveland Indians defeat the Brooklyn Robins in seven games. - Municipal Stadium Opens1931
July 1. The 78,000-seat lakefront stadium opens; future home to the Indians and Browns. - Browns Founded1946
Paul Brown is hired to coach and build a new AAFC franchise. - Larry Doby Debuts1947
July 5. Doby breaks the American League color line, 11 weeks after Jackie Robinson. - Indians Win World Series1948
October 11. The Indians defeat the Boston Braves; Satchel Paige becomes the oldest rookie in World Series history. - Browns Win NFL Title1964
December 27. The team's fourth NFL championship, Jim Brown's last great game, Cleveland's last championship for 52 years. - The Shot1989
May 7. Michael Jordan's buzzer-beater eliminates the Cavaliers from the NBA playoffs. - Jacobs Field & Gund Arena Open1994
The Gateway project opens two new downtown venues, reversing decades of disinvestment. - Browns Relocate1995
Owner Art Modell announces the team's move to Baltimore; expansion franchise granted in 1999. - LeBron Comes Home2014
July 11. James announces his return to the Cavaliers in a Sports Illustrated essay. - The Championship2016
June 19. Cavaliers defeat the Warriors in Game 7 of the NBA Finals — Cleveland's first major title since 1964. - Indians Renamed Guardians2022
The baseball team adopts the name Guardians, referencing the sculptures of the Hope Memorial Bridge.
