The Cleveland radio market, with about 80 FM and AM stations within 50 miles of the city, is such that there is a very limited group of contenders outside of the incumbents for Browns radio rights.

"I see iHeart as the only (other) possibility," said Gorman, who spent a couple decades working for the company during the glory days of Clear Channel.

IHeart, which shed almost $10.4 billion in debt during its bankruptcy, owns seven stations in Cleveland. Two — WTAM-AM, 1100 and WMMS-FM, 100.7 — serve as the flagship homes of the Cavaliers and Indians.

Some inside the Browns organization, according to a radio source with knowledge of the proceedings, expect iHeart to make another run at the Browns rights it lost to ESPN Cleveland and The Fan in 2013. Doing so would be complicated, though, because of potential conflicts with Indians and Cavs programming, along with the Browns making "Cleveland Browns Daily" an important show that features their top corporate partners.

WTAM, for instance, likely wouldn't bump Rush Limbaugh's show in favor of the Browns' two-hour afternoon program, though Gorman, should a deal get struck, said he could envision "Cleveland Browns Daily" airing on WMMS.

Aside from iHeart and Entercom, the only other companies that own at least three radio stations within 50 miles of Cleveland are Radio One, Salem Communications, Rubber City Radio Group and Media One Radio Group. Of those four, only Radio One and Salem have at least three stations in Cleveland.

All of which is why industry observers with whom Crain's spoke view the race for Browns radio rights coming to down to the incumbents and iHeart.

The rights seem more crucial to ESPN Cleveland and The Fan than they might for iHeart, which is one of the reasons Gorman thinks WKNR and WKRK will extend the deal.

"Usually, possession is nine-tenths," Gorman said. "If you do a good job, they're going to stay with you."

The Browns, sources said, are pleased with how the current deal has worked, and the status quo would keep its seven-days-a-week programming power intact.

"Cleveland Browns Daily" is also streamed live on the team's website, social media feeds and YouTube channel, and the audience has steadily increased during a period in which the hype is the highest since the Bernie Kosar days.

In a statement released to Crain's, Sam Pines, a Good Karma Brands vice president and ESPN Cleveland's market manager, said he couldn't comment on contract negotiations with the Browns. But, he added, Entercom and the team have been "great partners over the years," and " 'Cleveland Browns Daily' has given the fans the local content they want, and the Browns have made that show a fun addition to our lineup that continues to evolve."

Representatives from Entercom and iHeart declined comment.

Another intriguing piece to the Browns' radio deal is the presence of longtime play-by-play voice Jim Donovan, who is very popular with fans and appears on quite a bit of the team-branded programming.

"You hear about people watching Browns games and listening to them at the same time on NCX, The Fan or KNR just because of Donovan's great delivery," Gorman said. "I doubt very much that there are better guys to call a game. That's a unique element that the Browns have."