We always knew it’d be big. But wading through the mass of jubilant fans three days after the Cavs ended Cleveland’s 52-year sports title drought on June 19, 2016, it seemed like all of Northeast Ohio was downtown for the parade.
Greater Cleveland Regional Transit Authority estimated more than 500,000 people used buses or the Rapid to get downtown to celebrate the Cavs’ win over the Golden State Warriors in the NBA Finals.
And since that day, it’s been accepted almost as gospel that 1.3 million fans went to the parade.
The gleam of victory was too fresh to be cynical about the number then, but where did it come from? If there’s a “patient zero” for the attendance figure, it might be Anthony Lima of 92.3 the Fan, who used the figure in a congratulatory tweet the day of the parade. He cited the Greater Cleveland Sports Commission for the figure. They promptly refuted him, replying on Twitter.
But the number’s taken on a life of its own since then, showing up on Bleacher Report and Good Morning America. But Cleveland entrepreneur Mike Clum is putting a LeBron James-level chase down block on the figure.
“I do not think there is any mathematical way for that number to be correct,” he says. Clum, who was at the parade, made a video June, 25, 2016, that estimated actual attendance at less than 800,000.
To come up with that number, he added apparent used square footage along the parade route and on Mall B for the rally and divded by a compact measurement of two square feet per one person. There might not be anyway to know for sure, but Clum stands by his math’s accuracy.
“I love Cleveland. I love the Cavs. I’m not trying to run anyone down,” he says. “But 1.3 million people is just impossible.”
Status: Undecided
Read More: Click here to read the full list of 30 Myths That Define Cleveland
CLE Myths: Cavs Victory Parade
We'll always be champs, but were there 1.3 million people at the parade?
