BEREA, Ohio — The Cleveland Browns cut the ribbon Monday on their stadium experience center, marking the start of a three-year sales process leading up to the opening of the new Huntington Bank Field in Brook Park.
Nestled on the team’s growing headquarters campus in Berea, the sales center will give fans an up-close look at the project — from the surrounding entertainment district to the 50-yard line. A 21-foot-wide room called “the Immersive Cube” lets the Browns take visitors on a custom journey, starting with driving routes to the stadium and ending with a view from their potential seats.
“It’s literally virtual reality — without the goggles. And you get a chance to really get a vibe and feel,” JW Johnson, a managing partner with team owner Haslam Sports Group, said during Monday morning’s ribbon-cutting event.
The space, open only by appointment, provides the most detailed look so far at the new stadium experience. There’s a scale model of the building — minus the see-through roof. There are cushy club and suite seats for buyers to try out.
But the Browns, who just started marketing suites, still aren’t saying much about the cost of admission.
The sales pitch comes first. Pricing? That’s a subsequent, and largely private, conversation.
Haslam Sports Group President Dave Jenkins said there’s “strong interest” from fans willing to make a $25 deposit to get a chance at season tickets or put down $500 for a shot at a suite.
“Our deposits are tracking ahead of where we thought they would be. … And we feel really good about where we’re at and where we’re headed,” he said.
The Browns plan to start selling personal seat licenses, or PSLs, in mid-September. To get the right to buy season tickets, fans will have to pay a one-time fee first. That money will go toward Haslam Sports Group’s share of the $2.6 billion stadium construction project.
RELATED: Longtime Browns fans outraged by possible seat-license pricing in Brook Park
Seat licenses are used across the NFL to help pay for new venues. Public records show the Buffalo Bills netted $258 million from PSL sales for their new, open-air stadium — selling licenses for $750 to $50,000 apiece.
At the enclosed stadium in Brook Park, the top-end pricing is likely to be a lot higher.
Last year, the Browns surveyed fans about possible seating options and pricing. That survey showed a wide range of potential PSL costs. There was a $550 PSL for a seat in the corner of the upper bowl. And a $193,650 PSL for a field-level seat, on the home side, at the 50-yard line, with all-inclusive food, top-shelf liquor and VIP parking.
That doesn’t include the cost of season tickets.
“We’re still working through pricing,” Jenkins said Monday, noting that PSL sales will happen gradually, starting with the most expensive options.
The Brook Park New Community Authority, the public entity created to own the new stadium and lease it to the Browns, recently approved the framework for PSL sales.
Existing seat-license holders at the downtown stadium will get a credit toward a new PSL purchase. Buyers will have the ability to make a single, up-front payment; sign up for an interest-free, short-term payment plan; or enter a long-term financing agreement.
RELATED: Browns fans will need a PSL for season tickets in Brook Park
The new stadium will seat 67,500 people for NFL games.
A standing-room-only area will accommodate 2,500 people.
During a tour of the sales center, Jenkins described “an intimate sales process” that can be tailored to individual buyers and companies interested in group seating.
“When you’re on a tour, you’re by yourself,” he said. “There’s no one else.”
The center's entryway leads to a hall lined with Browns memorabilia and pictures of players and fans. There’s a video narrated by former Browns offensive tackle Joe Thomas — “to once again, tug at the emotions,” Jenkins said.
Another hallway highlights features of the new stadium and the surrounding district, where Haslam Sports Group is working with developer Lincoln Property Company on plans for apartments, two hotels, retail and a roughly 3,000-seat music venue. The long-term vision for the district also includes office space, but that will come later — if tenants materialize.
RELATED: Browns, development partner say Brook Park stadium district will include smaller music venue
Drawings of the 178-acre site show more than 10,000 parking spaces, including a roughly 1,900-space parking lot devoted to the fervent fans who sit in the Dawg Pound and tailgate in Cleveland’s Muni Lot today.
“We’re doing our best to honor that tradition,” Jenkins said, while navigating a group of journalists through the wrap-around digital copy of the stadium district.
The immersive room is the third and largest space of its kind created by Advent, a design firm based in Tennessee. The other two cubes showcase makeover plans for Bank of America Stadium in Charlotte, North Carolina, and the future Las Vegas A’s ballpark.
The space at the Browns’ CrossCountry Mortgage Campus in Berea can hold up to 16 people. The sales team will have the ability to take viewers to every seat in the stadium.
“You’re gonna get a real experience to see what you have been missing,” Johnson said. “And what first-class stadiums are all about.”
The Browns worked with Elevate, a sports and entertainment agency, to design the sales center. Legends Global is managing sponsorships, premium seating and suite sales for the new stadium, which is scheduled to open by late summer of 2029.
Michelle Jarboe is the business growth and development reporter at News 5 Cleveland. Follow her on X @MJarboe or email her at Michelle.Jarboe@wews.com.
