CLEVELAND, Ohio—A revitalized Cleveland has been on full display since 2016, when the Cavs won the franchise’s first NBA championship and the city’s first major sports championship in 52 years.

• Cleveland has been changing its “Mistake by the Lake” reputation 
• The Cavs NBA championship, 2016 RNC and other big events helped reshape Cleveland's perception
• The MLB All-Star Game is again putting the city in the spotlight

In addition to boosting the city’s psyche, the national attention that came with the win and the massive parade that followed, gave Cleveland its star-turn.

“Cleveland is definitely a hot city… they have up and coming bars, restaurants right on the lake… the Flats have been rejuvenated. The Cavs, the Indians, the Browns…the Browns definitely,” said BJ Barry, of Rocky River.

“It’s kind of a well-kept secret and there are lots of things to do… Playhouse Square, the Lake,” said Kathleen Keefe, of Westlake.

Over the next 5 years, the city will be home to the NFL Draft, the regionals for the Men’s NCAA Basketball Tournament, the NBA All-Star Game and the Women’s Final Four.

And now— the Major League Baseball All-Star Game. 

Mike Mulhall is the vice president of business development for the Greater Cleveland Sports Commission. 

He says hosting and successfully executing the big events helped improve the city’s reputation.

“it’s a great time to be selling the city,” said Mulhall. “I think that one of the things is, we’ve done really well with some of the big events we had the honor of hosting and it’s one of those things when you do well, that reputation grows and we got some great partners here with the city, with the convention center, with the sports teams. I think all that has played a part.”

Mulhall helped bring the 2021 NFL Draft to Cleveland and believes the success of the 2016 Republican National Convention has also helped Cleveland’s improved perception.

“There’s a huge economic influx when you land an event like the NFL Draft or the upcoming Major League All-Star Game,” said Mulhall. “So, there’s the hard dollars, there’s hotels and restaurants that are filled, but the bigger opportunity is the exposure of Cleveland to a world-wide audience and really change the perception of Cleveland, which we know research has told us over time isn’t the greatest, right? So, when we have that opportunity to showcase the new Cleveland to the world, that’s really where the bigger impact happens.”

There’s one person in Cleveland that definitely knows how hot the city is. She started a trolley business 34 years ago and has been driving people around the city ever since. 

“Cleveland has always been hot… people are just finding it out now,” said Sherrill Witt, co-owner Lolly The Trolley. 

Witt has seen the city’s positive growth and is happy others have too. 

“So, we have been the center of things for many, many years and I think truly the Republican National Convention was probably the big kick that we got and it’s been non-stop since then with all the things going on and, of course, this coming week with the All-Star game and with the tall ships coming in and all the different events,” said Witt. “We just had the Cuyahoga 50 this past weekend… lots of things happening… people are very curious about Cleveland so they do come… they always have low expectations and are amazed when they do visit our city at how wonderful it is, how clean it is and how friendly it is. We have a great place. A wonderful city.