The term Greater Cleveland means Cleveland and all its suburbs. .... all 55 of them. In the region ,if Cleveland reclaimed its fiefdoms the population would make it the 7 th largest city in the country, right in between Houston and Philly.
Cleveland has sports teams to begin with because by 1940 it had a population within metro Cleveland of almost one million people. ... that's just in the city. It was an industrial Juggernaut having access to road, rail and a major water way, the cities infrastructure can handle Much more than what is used. But with the large population, back in the day the Rams started in Cleveland and moved to LA when Wise ownership saw the fledgling AAFC (All American Football Conference) the Browns being one of thoes teams (SF 49ers is another team from this conference). The Browns drafted local talent that made them identifiable so the Rams moved to LA, with no NFL competion to compete for a fan base, very smart.
By the way no one bashes Cleveland sports better than Clevelanders.
Check out Mike Polk Jr. on YouTube and the "factory of sadness".
Some of us say that pro football left in 1995.... and never came back. You want to hear jokes just check out some Cleveland sports talk online, you will know how the fans feel.