Would the Browns have won the Superbowl in 2000 if they never moved?

[The Voice]

My question is would the superbowl the Ravens won in 2000 be ours if they never moved? Modell would have obviously still hired Ozzie. No doubt about that and Ray "I killed a guy and got away with it" Lewis would ultimately become a Cleveland Brown.

 

[OnTheReg]

If "Cleveland" were still part of the name in 2000, then I think you've got to know the answer...

 

[Otsego Mar]

No

 

[Phills14]

No the team would have folded before we got to 2000 because Modell was bankrupt and refused to sell the team.

Seriously, though, Modell got a large cash infusion by moving to Baltimore and then started selling minority shares of the club to help raise more money until he was the minority shareholder. I'm not sure what free agents he signed between 1996 and 2000 but you gotta assume he wouldn't have been able to sign most of those guys given his financial situation. He would have had to sign guys at lesser dollar values which would have changed the look and play of the team. So no, I don't think they would have won the Super Bowl in 2000 if they had stayed in Cleveland and everything remained the same.

 

[MoFlo]

No the team would have folded before we got to 2000 because Modell was bankrupt and refused to sell the team.

Seriously, though, Modell got a large cash infusion by moving to Baltimore and then started selling minority shares of the club to help raise more money until he was the minority shareholder. I'm not sure what free agents he signed between 1996 and 2000 but you gotta assume he wouldn't have been able to sign most of those guys given his financial situation. He would have had to sign guys at lesser dollar values which would have changed the look and play of the team. So no, I don't think they would have won the Super Bowl in 2000 if they had stayed in Cleveland and everything remained the same.

Wait..

He had to start selling shares not long after moving to Baltimore...

So...why wouldn't he have done the same here, only probably sooner?

 

[Phills14]

On March 27, 2000, NFL owners approved the sale of 49% of the Ravens to Bisciotti. In the deal, Bisciotti had an option to purchase the remaining 51% for $325 million in 2004 from Art Modell. On April 9, 2004 the NFL approved Steve Bisciotti's purchase of the majority stake in the club

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Steve_Bisciotti

Modell sold 49% of the Ravens the March before their Super Bowl season. So they played 4 years in Baltimore before Modell had to start selling off the team. The remaining 51% was sold in 2004.

 

[Urban]

It's really not even worth thinking about.

 

[Lee]

My question is would the superbowl the Ravens won in 2000 be ours if they never moved? Modell would have obviously still hired Ozzie. No doubt about that and Ray "I killed a guy and got away with it" Lewis would ultimately become a Cleveland Brown.

How did Ray Lewis get away with killing a guy? Some guy in his limo killed a guy and Lewis was charged to put pressure on him to roll on his friend which he ultimately did, Ray Lewis has never killed a guy.

I hate ignorant comments like that.

 

[AZ_]

How did Ray Lewis get away with killing a guy? Some guy in his limo killed a guy and Lewis was charged to put pressure on him to roll on his friend which he ultimately did, Ray Lewis has never killed a guy.

I hate ignorant comments like that.

Consider the source...

 

[MoFlo]

On March 27, 2000, NFL owners approved the sale of 49% of the Ravens to Bisciotti. In the deal, Bisciotti had an option to purchase the remaining 51% for $325 million in 2004 from Art Modell. On April 9, 2004 the NFL approved Steve Bisciotti's purchase of the majority stake in the club

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Steve_Bisciotti

Modell sold 49% of the Ravens the March before their Super Bowl season. So they played 4 years in Baltimore before Modell had to start selling off the team. The remaining 51% was sold in 2004.

Like I said, why couldn't Modell have done the same here, only sooner?

Was he incapable of selling the franchise while it was here?

Why was it "go bankrupt or move", as he put it?

 

[Shakalu M.D.]

Like I said, why couldn't Modell have done the same here, only sooner?

Was he incapable of selling the franchise while it was here?

Why was it "go bankrupt or move", as he put it?

Well honestly he had no choice in selling the team no matter what he did, but he decided that it was better to make money on the Baltimore move then make more money by selling the franchise. He didn't care that he was stealing a storied franchise from one of the most loyal fan bases in the world in any sport, he cared about lining his pockets even more than he would have if he just sold to somebody in Cleveland.

 

[MoFlo]

Well honestly he had no choice in selling the team no matter what he did, but he decided that it was better to make money on the Baltimore move then make more money by selling the franchise. He didn't care that he was stealing a storied franchise from one of the most loyal fan bases in the world in any sport, he cared about lining his pockets even more than he would have if he just sold to somebody in Cleveland.

Right, but his point was that, had the Browns stayed, Modell wouldn't have signed as many free agents or any big name free agents cause of lack of $.

All I'm saying is that, had we stayed, why couldn't he just have started selling shares here (like he ended up doing when he moved)?

It wouldn't necessarily be "he wouldn't have been able to sign as many free agents", cause all he had to do was start selling some shares..

 

[polska2211]

considering it is the exact same franchise, all things being equal, yes.

 

[Green Demon]

Right, but his point was that, had the Browns stayed, Modell wouldn't have signed as many free agents or any big name free agents cause of lack of $.

All I'm saying is that, had we stayed, why couldn't he just have started selling shares here (like he ended up doing when he moved)?

It wouldn't necessarily be "he wouldn't have been able to sign as many free agents", cause all he had to do was start selling some shares..

I'm sure that he could have just sold shares of the team in Cleveland too as you are saying but i'm pretty sure that by moving the team to Baltimore he was able to get a quicker influx of money from the various packages that he was getting from Baltimore and the stadium deal. That being said he was still a terrible businessman and had to sell a majority ownership in the team anyways a couple of years later then he would have if he had stayed in Cleveland.

 

[mrbeaks]

How did Ray Lewis get away with killing a guy? Some guy in his limo killed a guy and Lewis was charged to put pressure on him to roll on his friend which he ultimately did, Ray Lewis has never killed a guy.

I hate ignorant comments like that.

We'll never know what happened, but I've always found it troubling that Lewis disposed of the white suit he was wearing that night. He also coughed up an undisclosed amount of money to one victim's family.

Not trying to derail the thread, but it's not unreasonable to doubt Lewis's side of the story.