A Very Icy Football Stadium

Behind the Scenes at Cleveland Browns Stadium for the AHL/Cleveland Monsters Outdoor Classic

View the Full Photo Gallery! https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/11nbgk52p5ZSW2mpTMJWFhx98P2MkoKGV?usp=drive_link

On March 4th, 2023, the Cleveland Monsters played the Wilkes-Barre Scranton Penguins in the first ever outdoor game in Cleveland Hockey’s storied 94 year history, and 11th outdoor game in American Hockey League History. now, before the five-hour sun delay, and the Monsters 3-2 Overtime win 32 seconds into OT (which can all be watched in our video below), we had the amazing opportunity to explore, and skate, on/in Cleveland Browns Stadium a few days before the event. Oh, Editor’s note; some of the pictures show the endzones painted with “Michigan” or “Ohio State” just like at The Horseshoe/Big House, because Michigan Played Ohio State on the same ice surface the day before the Monsters game.

I wanted to post a quick piece with some pictures of the player’s POV (because we get a lot of questions/wonderings), so please comment below, or text Chewing on the Wire at (216)-489-2294 if there’s something more you’d like to know that I did not include in this article/video. Like I said, we had the opportunity to head onto the field, and the Ice, during a team family skate a few days before the game. It was an amazing view, what has to be a very daunting angle if you’re a football player, and Hockey player alike. Cleveland Browns Stadium has this very magnetic angle, where it seems like everyone’s facing down a funnel on top of you, and relentlessly staring at you.

This Wasn’t my first time on the ice for an outdoor hockey game, but it was my first time doing so in an NFL Stadium – Last time Being in a Triple-A Baseball stadium for the ECHL’s Toledo Walleye game a year or so before – and sadly, they did not let me on the ice at the 2022 NHL Stadium Series in Nashville. I must say though, all that room between the stands and the Ice you see from the picture above, does somehow disappear as soon as you step onto the ice surface, only furthering that funneling down on you feeling.

One of my favorite things, is when they have events in venue’s that are meant to host a different event – concerts in baseball stadiums, hockey games in football stadiums, basketball in concert halls – So this was of course a dream come true for me to be able to explore. To get more angles of what it looked like from inside/outside the club level during the game, behind the scenes of the 5-hour sun delay, or even just what the game looked like/a few custom “highlights” from the game itself, make sure to check out that video I posted up top of our visit (and please subscribe to our YouTube Channel)!