The Cleveland Browns’ plan to leave downtown and build a $2.4 billion domed stadium in suburban Brook Park has turned into a public spat with Cleveland’s mayor.
The NFL team’s owners, Jimmy and Dee Haslam, have not wavered for 18 months in choosing a new, indoor stadium as part of a larger, mixed-use development rather than renovating Huntington Bank Field. They view the latter option of pouring more than $1 billion into renovating the stadium — where the team’s lease expires after the 2028 season — as a “short-term fix.”
Earlier this week, Cleveland mayor Justin Bibb said, “There are more important priorities than the Cleveland Browns,” in an interview with Fox 8 News and noted redeveloping the lakefront area and upgrading Cleveland Hopkins International Airport.
“If they go to Brook Park, God bless them. Good luck,” Bibb told the Cleveland TV station.
On Wednesday, however, Bibb issued a statement on social media that “reinforces his commitment to protecting Cleveland taxpayers,” while calling the future of the Browns’ stadium on the lakefront “a critical issue for Cleveland now and for generations to come.”
“Right now, the Haslams are taking extreme measures to relocate the team away from downtown — an irreversible move that will negatively impact Cleveland and numerous small businesses that have stood by and supported their team for years through thick and thin,” Bibb said in the statement. “Let’s not forget, the Haslams previously committed to staying downtown as well.”
The Haslam Sports Group is prepared to finance a portion of the Brook Park facility, including $1.2 billion in private investment and a pledge to cover cost overruns, The Athletic reported. Brook Park is 20-plus miles southwest of Cleveland.
The financing is leveraged against $600 million in bonds from both the state of Ohio and Cuyahoga County. That amount would be recouped with tax revenues created by the new project.
The Ohio state Senate is considering the state budget after the Ohio House passed its version. Ohio Gov. Mike DeWine has until June 30 to sign the budget into law. Jimmy Haslam said in March that if funding is approved in June, the Browns hope to begin construction in early 2026.
With plans underway for the stadium and entertainment complex in Brook Park, the Haslam Sports Group last month sent a letter to Cuyahoga County executives, The Athletic reported.
“Renovating the (current) stadium and putting more than $1 billion into a short-term fix that would present the same dilemma 15 to 20 years from now is neither a strategic nor a fiscally responsible long-term approach,” the letter said.
The Browns and the city of Cleveland are battling on numerous fronts, including a lawsuit filed in January saying the team would violate the Modell Law if it moves. The law is named for former team owner Art Modell, who moved the Browns franchise to Baltimore and they became the Ravens in 1996.
The law requires teams using taxpayer funding and playing in a tax-supported facility to obtain the city’s approval or allow the city and others to buy the franchise before it moves from the facility.
The Browns filed a challenge, saying the law only applies to teams trying to move out of Ohio, not within the state, and that the team can move with the expiration of the current lease.
“I am fully committed to protecting our taxpayers, our downtown economy, and our treasured lakefront,” Bibb said in his statement on Wednesday. “I will do everything in my power to keep the Browns where they belong — in downtown Cleveland — and will continue to fight for what is in the best interest of our residents.”
–Field Level Media
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