With a rapidly growing Browns Backers population, many members have joined or started clubs to help create a Browns community within their own areas of the world. While it is not mandatory to be a member of a club, there are some added benefits. These include having a designated location to watch games with other Browns fans, hosting fan parties in away game cities, participating in exclusive club only contests, access to BBW merchandise and many more.
Currently, there are 378 Browns Backers Worldwide clubs spanning across the country, including 10 located internationally. Clubs range in size from a few members to over a thousand members and are always growing. Our international clubs include those in Israel, Australia, England, Spain, Germany and Afghanistan. Clubs are in every state in the U.S. with the exception of Vermont. If you live in Vermont and are a Browns fan that has the excitement and enthusiasm to start up a club, the fans there need you!
To start a club, the requirements are minimal. You must already be a registered Browns Backer to apply for a chapter and must have a minimum of 5 interested members to join your club. It is recommended that the clubs be 10-15 miles away from one another to allow enough space for individual clubs to operate effectively. You can check the Backer Tracker on the Cleveland Browns website to see if there is a club in your area already. The club must choose a name that is reflective of their geographic location such as Phoenix Area Browns Backers or Photo City Browns Backers (Rochester, NY). It is also required that the club has a public viewing location that will show all Browns games on their TVs throughout the season. After all of these basic requirements are met, the designated president must log on to their Cleveland Browns BBW profile and click on the “Start a Chapter” tab. From there, it takes approximately 2-4 weeks to process the application and grant a charter.
For many clubs, the fun doesn’t end when football season does. Often they plan picnics, Draft Day parties, outings to baseball games and more to keep the group together in the off season. Clubs also do quite a bit of charitable work to contribute to their communities. Over the last 7 years, clubs have donated over $95,000 back to the Cleveland Browns Foundation, as well as contributed thousands of dollars in their own communities to charities they support.
For more information on joining or starting a club, please contact BBWnews@clevelandbrowns.com.
