Browns Now Charging You To Walk Through Parking Lot

And not because many Clevelanders weigh as much as a Kia Forte. No, the traditional tailgating spot for Browns fans is now charging money to enter, even if you're on foot.

From a Cleveland blogger:

my friends and i have been tailgating for browns home games in "the pit", a lot owned and managed by network parking, for years.

so as i headed to the pit to tailgate for the browns/bengals this past sunday morning i was beyond surprised to see that there was a network parking attendant collecting a "$5 pedestrian fee" from tailgaters to hangout in their parking lot.

essentially a $5 cover charge to walk through a parking lot - a slab of concrete.

when i was asked to pay the fee, i laughed, said no way, and walked away. but i didn't get far... the attendant called a couple of cops over because there was a group of about 15 people (including my friend and i) refusing to pay.

It's surprising it's taken this long for them to figure out that tailgating is another way to make money. If people are going to drop hundreds on tickets, and $12 for a beer inside the stadium, what's another half-sawbuck for access for free/cheap beer and grilling?

And they would have gotten away with it, if not for those meddling city council members. One of them just happened to be among the pedestrians forced to pay the fee on Sunday. Lo and behold, the city's looking into whether it's legal, and most likely if they can make any money off of this.

a $5 pedestrian fee to tailgate for a browns game? gimmie a break. [Cleveland's A Plum] Cleveland to look into operator's tailgate party $5 admission fees [Cleveland Plain-Dealer]