LOS ANGELES — When running back Ben Tate burst into the end zone Thursday night, giving the Cleveland Browns an early lead, the St. Felix bar in the heart of Hollywood erupted. Andy Lytle, in his Bernie Kosar No. 19 jersey, shouted, “Here we go Brownies, here we go.” And the other 40 or so Browns fans answered, “Woof, woof, woof.”

Later, about 10 miles from the Dawg Pound diaspora, Todd Armstrong’s shoulders slumped as he and about 25 Cincinnati Bengals fans, many in orange “Who Dey?” T-shirts, watched a familiar horror unfold at the 5 Line Tavern in Eagle Rock: Quarterback Andy Dalton interrupted the monotony of another incompletion by throwing his third interception of the night.

“I’ve seen this before,” Armstrong said as he took another pull on his mug of beer.

Similar scenes surely played out in Ashtabula and Enon, and all over Ohio, as the Browns thumped the Bengals, 24-3. That they also took place here, a place so unlike Ohio, explains not only the N.F.L.'s reach but also its place in the nation’s entertainment capital.

This is the 20th season that the N.F.L. has not had a team based in Los Angeles, since the Rams left for St. Louis and the Raiders for Oakland. Although the league has developed as an entertainment behemoth, Los Angeles has in many ways followed along, evolving into the archetype of the postmodern N.F.L. city, where the matter of a home team or a stadium is largely irrelevant.