Owner/Founder

The Cleveland Municipal Stadium scoreboard memorabilia project is the brainchild of George Hoffman, a lifelong resident of Northeastern Ohio. From 1977 until the departure of the original Cleveland Browns in the spring of 1996, Hoffman served in various capacities within the Cleveland Stadium Corporation and the Cleveland Browns organization. One of his key responsibilities was managing the operation of the stadium’s computerized scoreboard display.

In the fall of 1996, after acquiring ownership of the scoreboard, George founded Stadium Memories and webgamestats.com to produce and sell parts of the scoreboard as memorabilia. To this day, Hoffman still owns the remaining scoreboard artifacts.

Scoreboard Acquisition

The management of Cleveland Municipal Stadium was reassigned to the city of Cleveland when the original Cleveland Browns left for Baltimore on April 1, 1996. To make room for the new structure, demolition of the old stadium needed to be completed by March 1997.

Prior to the start of demolition, the city scheduled a Sports Memorabilia Auction on September 24, 1996, which was open to the public. This was followed by an auction exclusively for large scrap removal companies. While examining the auction catalog, one lot caught the attention of George Hoffman: Lot 278, the actual main scoreboard!

After much thought and soul-searching, George decided to bid on this unusual item. He was successful in purchasing the scoreboard. As for the cost? You can find the answer at the 0:20 mark in this youtube video..

Scoreboard Removal

The condition of any sale made during the Memorabilia Auction was that the item had to be removed within 30 days. Using contractors approved by the city, Hoffman’s team successfully removed the highlighted area shown in the photo below. Needless to say, the cost of removal far exceeded the purchase price of the scoreboard.

Scoreboard Memorabilia (Past)

Since its removal, we have designed and distributed pieces of the scoreboard in various presentations. Here are some examples:

• Time of Day Clock and Associated Speakers: Sold to a private buyer in 1996.
  
  
• Official Time Clock and Control Mechanism: Acquired by a Northeastern Ohio tavern, where it still remains (1996).
  
  
• Full Sections of the Main Display: The 2 by 1-foot sections were sold to various collectors, mostly through taverns (1996, 1999, 2006).
  
  
• Partial Sections: Sections from the main display were divided into pieces containing one, two, or eight lightbulbs. These pieces were then mounted on wooden plaques and sold to the general public in the years 1996, 1997, 1999, 2006, and 2016.
  

Scoreboard Memorabilia (Present and Beyond)

This fall marks the beginning of another public offering. We are initially offering our popular single lightbulb plaque and will introduce additional products based on demand.