The Cleveland Browns are responding to the worst season in franchise history by dropping the season-ticket prices for about 40% of the seats at FirstEnergy Stadium, the team announced on Wednesday, Feb. 8.

The per-game season-ticket prices for all premium seat locations, plus more than 90% of the seats in the upper bowl, will decrease in 2017, the Browns said. The prices that don't drop will remain flat.

In a letter sent to season-ticket members on Wednesday, Browns owners Dee and Jimmy Haslam said the franchise is "building a foundation that will help us be successful for years to come, and we take great responsibility in ensuring that we provide you with the winning team you deserve. We are committed to that goal, and thank you for your unmatched passion and loyalty as a Browns fan."

The move comes after a 1-15 season in 2016 — the lowest win total in the franchise's 68-year history.

In the letter, the Haslams cited the Browns' abundance of draft picks and their monstrous salary-cap space as reasons for optimism. The franchise, they said, will "take an appropriately aggressive approach to free agency while retaining core players."

The team said it expects its season-ticket prices to be the lowest or second-lowest in the NFL in 2017.

Overall, 40% of the seats will drop in price, and the decreases will range from $5 to $15 per game, depending on the location. More than half of the seats in the Lake Club and BMW City Clubs will drop. The team also said the cost of sideline seats will go down, and corner locations will remain the same.

The Browns' 2017 schedule includes a "home game" against the Minnesota Vikings in London. The team said season-ticket holders will "have a special window to access tickets" to that contest, which will be in Week 7 or Week 8, "at a later date."

Tickets for the nine games at FirstEnergy Stadium will be variably priced, with the two preseason contests below the cost of the regular-season games.

The Browns said season tickets are available in the upper bowl for $25 to $65 per game. The seats in Club 46, the Cleveland Club, Draft Room and Kardiac Club will drop, and spots in the lower bowl and mezzanine areas will stay flat.

The Browns have only raised season-ticket prices once during a brutal nine-year stretch, which started with a 4-12 campaign in 2008. In that span, the team has finished with five or fewer wins eight times, and a 7-9 mark in 2014 is the best of the bunch.

In a statement released by the team, Peter John-Baptiste, the Browns' vice president of communications, said the price decreases were "the right thing to do for our fans."

The Browns sent an example to the media of a dramatic price drop for fans with two tickets in the upper bowl, near the 50-yard line.

Fans with two season tickets in that area will pay a total of $990 for nine games — a per-game average of $55 for each seat. In 2016, fans in that section paid $70 per ticket, and $1,400 for a pair of seats for the 10 home games.

According to Team Marketing Report's 2016 Fan Cost Index, the average cost of a Browns ticket in 2016 was $69.13, which ranked 30th in the NFL. That was $23.85 below the league norm of $92.98. The Browns' average premium price was $229.78, which was the 12th-lowest.

In addition to AFC North foes Baltimore, Cincinnati and Pittsburgh, the Browns will play the Green Bay Packers, Jacksonville Jaguars, New York Jets and Tennessee Titans at FES during the regular season.