Without question, it would’ve been even worse. The thing that made the Browns situation so bad is that they had a ton of fan support and had been competitive. It wasn’t a situation where they had to move because they sucked, no one came to games, or they sold the team.
I think most believed that the Browns would be back in Cleveland, whereas I can’t say the same about another team going back to St Louis, Oakland, or San Diego.
I would be more interested to know if Charlotte Hornets fans cheered for New Orleans, and if they did, did they go back to the Charlotte team when the Bobcats came back? Even further, were there fans that continued cheering for the Hornets in New Orleans, but only came back to the Charlotte NBA team once they got the Hornets name back?