CLEVELAND, Ohio -- It's said that for win-starved Browns fans, the NFL Draft is their Super Bowl.

Well, if that's the case, the Browns could be hosting the Super Bowl next year.

The combined cities of Cleveland and Canton are one of five finalists to host the draft either in 2019 or 2020, and will find out at the NFL spring league meeting May 21-23 in Atlanta.

The theme for this region's bid is "Bring it Home'' -- to the birthplace of the National Football League, which was founded here in 1920.

If the Cleveland and Canton are awarded the draft for 2019, it would coincide with the 100-year anniversary of the NFL, and if it's 2020, it will coincide with the league's centennial celebration. The two cities, along with the Browns, The Greater Cleveland Sports Commission and the Pro Football Hall of Fame have joined forces on the bid.

Other finalists are Las Vegas, Nashville, Kansas City and Denver.

"We're excited,'' Dave Jenkins, Browns Executive Vice President/CFO told a small group of reporters Monday afternoon. "We feel like we've put forth a really strong bid that's extremely competitive with the other five cities.

"The uniqueness of being able to partner with the Pro Football Hall of Fame and the fact that professional football was founded here in Northeast Ohio and to have the abilities of probably the greatest sports commission in the country as far as attracting events and executing those even recently the Division I national wrestling championship, when you have a significant amount of out-of-town visitors, there's no doubt in our mind that we can execute this and give fans in this community an incredible experience."

David Gilbert, Great Cleveland Sports Commission President and CEO, knows first-hand that Northeast Ohio can pull off such a event. He served as Republican National Convention Host Committee CEO in 2016.

"I think we feel very confident that if they choose Cleveland that we are going to deliver in a big way,'' he said. "We're not going to be learning on the job."

Gilbert stressed that the region can reasonably expect to enjoy the same economic impact that Philadelphia did last year. More than 250,000 visitors poured into Philly over three days, pumping about $94.9 million into the local economy.

"I believe from a people standpoint and an out-of-towner standpoint, other than hosting another political convention, I don't know of an event that Cleveland could host that would have as large of an impact for one event," he said.

Gilbert stressed that the synergy between Cleveland and Canton is what makes this venue unique. This year's draft, beginning Thursday night, is being held in Dallas.

"When you look at the whole 'Bring It Home' I think it was important when all the groups got together to have one unified message,'' said Gilbert. "This wasn't about just Cleveland, it wasn't about just Canton. It was 'how do you unify the tremendous history of the Browns ... along with certainly the 100th anniversary and the Pro Football Hall of Fame?' To us, it created a very compelling story of why one of those two years would make a lot of sense."

He said NFL officials were impressed when they conducted a site search in March, and Gilbert said plans call for a shuttle to take fans back and forth between Cleveland and Canton throughout the three days.

He said several officials returned for the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame Induction Ceremonies last week at Public Hall, where the draft's first three rounds on Thursday and Friday would take place. The remaining rounds would be at the Hall of Fame in Canton.

"It actually worked out great because they saw Public Hall (on the site visit) and we said 'boy, if you can come back and see it as beautiful as it is when it's all dressed up' and it was really cool that a couple of their chief staff people and some other folks were able to come back as well,'' Gilbert said.

He said the league officials had questions about the Cavs championship parade, in which a reported 1.3 million people flooded city streets.

"So that was another feather in the cap if you will,'' said Gilbert.

Jenkins noted that "we're about a day's drive within half of the NFL cities (13 teams are within an eight-hour drive), so we have a a tremendous ability to track fans from other regions."

Along those lines, Gilbert stated that more than half of the 250,000 visitors to Philadelphia for the three days of the draft last year were from outside the Philly market. The two also pointed out that Cleveland has had higher TV ratings for the first round of the draft in each of the past four seasons than any other city.

Gilbert and Jenkins said they didn't think the fact that the Pro Football Hall of Fame's $899 million Johnson Controls Hall of Fame Village is still under construction would be a deterrent in 2019.

A big component of the festivities is the Fan Fest, which would be held on Cleveland's sprawling outdoor malls, on Public Square and at the Huntington Convention Center, which provides plenty of indoor space in the event of inclement weather. The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and FirstEnergy Stadium would also be involved.

Last year, Philadelphia hosted 1,800 media members, and visitors spent 19,000 nights at regional hotels.

Cleveland will also host the MLB All-Star Game in 2019, which will take place nine weeks after the draft.