The Browns will kick off the 2010 regular season on Sunday, September 12 in the Sunshine State when they travel to Raymond James Stadium to face the Tampa Bay Buccaneers at 1:00 p.m. The contest snaps an 11-year streak of season openers at home, dating back to the team’s return in 1999.

Cleveland will conclude its season with three consecutive AFC North division battles for the first time since 1984. The club will close out the season with back-to-back home contests for the second straight season and the sixth time in club history.

“Opening the season in the heat and humidity of Tampa Bay emphasizes the importance of our team being in peak condition coming out of training camp,” said Browns Head Coach Eric Mangini. “We have a challenging stretch towards the end of the year with four of five games on the road, and I expect our team to show the same resiliency as they did at the end of last season. I feel as though having our last three games against divisional opponents, including the final two at home, is a great feature for our fans, and I look forward to their tremendous support once again in 2010.”

In 2010, Cleveland will face all three Florida franchises on the road. It will mark the first time since 1987 that the Browns will play three teams from the same state on the road. That year, they faced the Los Angeles Raiders, San Francisco 49ers and San Diego Chargers.

For the third consecutive season, the Browns will face the defending Super Bowl champions, when they meet the New Orleans Saints on Sunday, October 24, at 1:00 p.m. ET (Noon CT) at the Louisiana Superdome.

Cleveland opens the home portion of its schedule on Sunday, September 19, as they welcome the Kansas City Chiefs to Cleveland Browns Stadium. Following a trip to Baltimore (September 26), the Browns play four of their next six contests at home, with matchups against Cincinnati (October 3), Atlanta (October 10), New England (November 7) and the New York Jets (November 14). The Browns will hit the road for three consecutive weeks for the first time since 2001 when they face Miami (December 5), Buffalo (December 12) and Cincinnati (December 19).

The combined record of the Browns’ 13 opponents this year was 104-104 in 2009. The eight teams that will visit Cleveland Browns Stadium posted a record of 68-60, and their eight road opponents went a combined 64-64. Cleveland will face five teams that qualified for the playoffs in 2009, for a total of seven games against 2009 playoff teams (Bengals, Ravens twice each).

Also today, the Browns announced the dates and times of their 2010 preseason schedule, which consists of home contests against St. Louis (Saturday, August 21) and Chicago (Thursday, September 2), and road games against Green Bay (Saturday, August 14) and Detroit (Saturday, August 28).

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