You can buy Cleveland Browns tickets for crazy cheap — on Groupon
It’s a new era in Cleveland Browns football! For about the 18th time in 20 years, sure, but still!
So maybe the excitement is on the short side these days, forcing the marketing and sales folks to go a different route to sell this new incarnation of the franchise.
After all, they can only say “Moneyball!” or “RG3!” with saccharine glee so many times before everyday folks start looking at them a bit sideways, even with the locals in a bit of an afterglow of the Cleveland Cavaliers’ championship.
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So new approaches are needed! That’s why the Browns are now selling regular-season tickets for this season on Groupon. Which, of course, carries a bit of a stigma with it.
Yes, this is the NFL, whose popularity remains sky high — enough so that 11 teams last season sold 100 or more percent of their listed capacity in games. The Browns were not one of those teams; they finished 28th out of 32 teams (at 90.4 percent), but last on that list were the St. Louis Rams, who moved to Los Angeles. (The Washington Redskins finished below the Browns by percentage, but sold 80,000 more tickets last season.)
The idea seems to be that going to Groupon is a last-ditch effort, a desperation move to sell tickets at discounted rates. But perhaps it’s not such a dumb idea. After all, the Pittsburgh Steelers sell out most regular-season games, and have for years, but even they have a Groupon ad up for preseason tickets going. Of course, theirs also includes memorabilia package options, but that’s besides the point. The Carolina Panthers also appear to have something similar, and they’re coming off a Super Bowl appearance.
The Browns’ options stick primarily to tickets, it appears, although there is a $20 first-time Uber credit as well. But they have some decent options even without the transportation if you just want to go to a pro football game — $99 choice seats for games against the New York Jets and New York Giants, $85 tickets against the rival Cincinnati Bengals, and $79 seats in the 100 section on Christmas Eve against the San Diego Chargers.
Wanna sit in the cheapies? The deals are even better — from $19 for a preseason game to $59 each for Jets and Giants. Hey, maybe Dad or Mom wants to go. Maybe you haven’t gotten the mailman anything yet. Think about that special someone in your life.
The fine print on the deal notes that this is not operated directly through the Browns, but rather via an “independently owned and operated secondary market ticket company not affiliated with the Cleveland Browns or FirstEnergy Stadium.”
Perhaps this company — The Official Fan Package — is not “affiliated” with the Browns, or any other team (as they state on their website, too), but you can bet they’re turning some kind of profit on these things. Which means the Browns aren’t selling enough of them to fans, so they’re turning to other vendors to do it for them at a cut rate.
Who knows? Maybe Hue Jackson and Co. are building something special in Cleveland. The Cavs looked dead a few years ago before LeBron returned, and even the Indians are white hot since the big parade. Maybe all this winning has become contagious. And you don’t really want to be one of those bandwagon fans, do you? Get in now — “Hue know you want to!” — before the Browns really turn things around!
And a reminder: We in no way are affiliated with the Browns, either. We just feel a bit badly about how things, um, are.
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Eric Edholm is a writer for Shutdown Corner on Yahoo Sports. Have a tip? Email him at edholm@yahoo-inc.com or follow him on Twitter!
