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Quick facts:

Founded:  1946
Folded:   1947
Owner:    Albert Sulphin
Arena:    Cleveland Arena
Address:  3700 Euclid Avenue
Built in: 1937
Capacity: 10,000
Closed:   April 1977
Titles:   None
Playoffs: 1

1946-47 BAA Cleveland Rebels 

Coachs: 2 
Dutch Dehnert   1946-47 
Roy Clifford    1946-47 

Season record
Season  W  L   %   Playoffs          Results 
1946-47 30 30 .500 Lost first round  New York 2-1 Cleveland 

The team made $64,638 in it's only NBA season, but the expenditures for that one season was S67,778, a net loss of $3,140.

First Female Employee:
The Cleveland Rebels may have had the first female employee in NBA history. Jane Sutphin, the daugther of Rebels owner Al Sutphin, was in charge is selling the season tickets. While being in charge of ticket sales may not seem like a big thing now days, for a young woman in 1940s America it was an important job. Unfortinately for Sutphin, she and all other Rebels employees lost their jobs when the franchise folded.

Cleveland struggled to fill the seats, but the team was not a bad team. At the time of the game the Rebels where 29-28 and fighting for a playoff spot.

Two other games vs Boston, who was a terrible team, also had very poor turnout. A game on February 18th had just 1,337 people and 2,000 people watched the Rebels final home vs the Celtics. But even the playoff game vs New York drew just 2,500 people.

The 182 people may have been a combination of spring training for the Cleveland Indians and bad weather, but still it is an abysmal showing. Many other Rebels games had poor attendance as well. The Rebels were 2nd to last in attendance, only behind Pittsburgh. It is one of the many reasons the Rebels never played a 2nd season in the BAA.

Logos:
The logo with the red Rebels over the name Cleveland is confirmed to be the true an authentic logo of the Cleveland Rebels franchise. As you can see below with the two warm up uniforms, that logo is clearly displayed. What cannot be confirmed is whether or not the cowboy logo is authentic or not.

Cleveland put in bids for both an ABL and ABA team named the Cleveland Rebels but neither team ever materialized. There is also indication of another minor league team in the 2010s having this name, but that team failed as well.

It is also likely that the cowboy logo is a 21st century mockup created to sell merchandise. The earliest this logo can be found online is 2014. That does not mean it did not exist before that date since a lot of these older basketball logos and pictures on found on newsprint. The coloring just seems to be too vibrant and sharp for a 75 year old logo.
Cleveland Arena from Euclid Ave.

Cleveland Rebels warm up jacket


Game Programs between the New York Knicks and Cleveland Rebels

Game advertisement from Philadelphia Inquirer, 12/19/1946, for a game vs the Philadelphia Warriors. The Warriors won the game 58-44.