Erie Cover Band First to Eleven Named Browns House Band for 2026 Season
The short version
- First to Eleven, an Erie-based cover band, will serve as house band for all eight Browns home games in 2026
- A Browns production employee discovered the band through its YouTube channel and pitched the idea
- The band will play live music during pregame, timeouts, postgame and other breaks in play
- The band rescheduled its 17-date tour, which opens Oct. 8 in Lakewood, Ohio, around home games
- The arrangement begins with the Sept. 27 home opener against the Carolina Panthers
The Pennsylvania-based group will provide live music at all eight Cleveland Browns home games this season, beginning with Sunday's opener against the Panthers.
First to Eleven, a cover band from Erie, Pennsylvania, has been named the in-house band for all eight Cleveland Browns home games during the 2026 NFL season. The band will perform live music at Huntington Bank Stadium in Cleveland, starting with the Browns' home opener on Sept. 27 against the Carolina Panthers.
The group came to the Browns' attention in an unusual way. Band manager and lead guitarist Ryan Krysiak said the process began with an email from the organization asking whether the band would be interested in playing at games and eventually becoming a house band. Through follow-up calls, the band learned that a Browns production employee who was a fan of their YouTube channel had pitched the idea internally.
"He heard about us from our YouTube channel and saw some of the covers we did and thought that we'd be a good fit," Krysiak said, adding that the band's proximity to Cleveland made appearing at all eight home games feasible.
Krysiak, a lifelong Browns fan whose father and grandfather followed the team, said he appreciated the organization looking beyond Ohio for the role. "They could have gotten an Ohio band but they chose a band from Pennsylvania," he said. "It's a character-building experience being a Browns fan. But it's awesome to be a part of rather than just watching it on television."
The band's duties include live music during timeouts, pregame and postgame segments, and other breaks in play. First to Eleven will be part of the pregame intro, playing as the team takes the field, and has learned a specific song for that moment. For other portions of the games, the Browns will select songs from the band's existing set list.
Krysiak described the arrangement by comparing the band to The Roots on The Tonight Show — the group remains First to Eleven rather than becoming an official Browns band, serving as part of the in-game entertainment in place of prerecorded music.
The scale of the opportunity is significant for the band. The Browns drew 520,859 fans to their regular-season home games last season, an average of 65,107 per game, according to statista.com. "It's definitely the largest physical crowd we've ever been in front of," Krysiak said, noting that while the band's YouTube videos regularly draw hundreds of thousands of viewers, performing for a live stadium audience will be a different experience.
The commitment required the band to rearrange its touring plans around the Browns' home schedule. Krysiak said the band will tour, break for Browns games, and then resume touring. First to Eleven's 17-date tour begins Oct. 8 in Lakewood, Ohio. Krysiak did not disclose contract details but said the deal has helped the band financially and with exposure, and that the Sept. 24 announcement has already led to bookings for local Erie events.
The band's eight scheduled appearances at Huntington Bank Stadium cover the full 2026 home slate: Sept. 27 vs. Carolina, Oct. 1 vs. Pittsburgh, Oct. 18 vs. Baltimore, Nov. 15 vs. Houston, Nov. 29 vs. Las Vegas, Dec. 6 vs. Cincinnati, Dec. 13 vs. Atlanta, and Jan. 3 vs. Indianapolis. Fans can catch the debut when the Panthers visit the Browns on Sunday, Sept. 27 at 1:00 PM EDT at Huntington Bank Field, airing on FOX.
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