The founder of the Browns club and current head coach, Paul Brown, also started the Bengals squad in the American Football League (AFL) after being sacked by the Browns.
Both teams’ colors are similar. In 1970, the Bengals and Browns first faced off. The Bengals-Browns rivalry, sometimes known as the Battle of Ohio, is one between the National Football League’s Cincinnati Bengals and Cleveland Browns (NFL).
Both teams compete against one another twice a year and are both part of the American Football Conference (AFC) North Division. This antagonism is exacerbated by geography and a common heritage.
Cleveland in the northeast and Cincinnati in the southwest are on Ohio’s opposing corners, thus dividing the state in half.
The All-America Football Conference’s (AAFC) Browns were established in 1946 and took its name from its head coach, Paul Brown.
The Browns joined the NFL in 1950 and played in the following six Championship Games for three Championships, giving them seven in ten years. The Browns dominated the AAFC in its four years of existence, winning all four Championships ( five in succession from 1946–1950).
After being let go by new team owner Art Modell in 1963, Brown went on to form the Bengals, who participated in their inaugural AFL season in 1968.
The Bengals and Browns faced twice a season after the AFL-NFL merger two years later, when both teams were assigned to the AFC Central.