Browns will play home game in London in 2017

Finally, football fans in Great Britain will have the opportunity to watch the Cleveland Browns lose a game in person. Cleveland, one of only eight teams in the league to have been left out of the NFL International Series, will play a home game in London next fall.

The Browns played an exhibition game in Wembley Stadium in 1989, but have not played a regular season contest outside the United States in franchise history. They’ve also held exhibition games in Montreal (1988) and Toronto (1993). 92.3 The Fan correspondent Daryl Ruiter later reported the game would count as one of Cleveland’s eight home games next fall.

Cleveland’s opponent has yet to be named, but it’s fair to assume the Browns will be the underdog overseas. Hue Jackson’s team is currently 0-12 and in danger of being just the second team in league history to achieve an 0-16 season.

Putting the NFL’s worst team in the International Series could be a major test of the sport’s stature in England. After regularly recording crowds of 80,000+ despite a steady dose of underwhelming matchups and Jacksonville Jaguars appearances, a historically inept Browns team could examine just how far British fans are willing to go to watch American football in person.