Cleveland Browns relocation controversy: Art Modell announces that he signed a deal that would relocate the Cleveland Browns to Baltimore, the first time the city had a NFL team since 1983 when they were the Baltimore Colts.
The Cleveland Browns relocation controversy - colloquially called "The Move" by fans - was caused by the announcement from then-Browns owner Art Modell that he intended to move the Cleveland Browns of the National Football League from its long-time home of Cleveland to Baltimore during the 1995 NFL season.
Subsequent legal actions by the city of Cleveland and Browns season ticket holders led the NFL to broker a compromise that saw the Browns franchise, history, records, and intellectual property remain in Cleveland. In return, Modell was permitted to establish a new franchise in Baltimore, which was eventually named the Ravens.
Since it was deemed infeasible for the Browns to play the 1996 season in Cleveland under such circumstances, the franchise was officially deactivated by the NFL in February 1996 and Modell was allowed to transfer its football organization to the Ravens: thus, the Ravens are officially regarded by the NFL as an expansion team that began play in 1996.
The NFL agreed to reactivate the Browns franchise no later than the 1999 season by way of expansion or moving a team from another city, provided the City of Cleveland constructed an NFL-caliber venue to replace the aging Cleveland Stadium. The city of Cleveland subsequently demolished Cleveland Stadium beginning in late 1996, and built a new stadium on the same site. In 1998, the NFL decided to re-establish the Browns by way of an expansion draft, and sold the Browns franchise to a new owner for $530 million. The re-activated Browns acquired players through this expansion draft and resumed play in 1999.
This compromise, which was unprecedented in North American professional sports at the time, has since been cited in franchise moves and agreements in other leagues, including ones in Major League Baseball, Major League Soccer, the National Basketball Association, and the National Hockey League.