BEREA, Ohio (92.3 The Fan) – The clock is ticking for the Haslam Sports Group to line up funding for their proposed $3.4 billion dome and mixed-use development to be built in Brook Park.
“We look at this as a sports and entertainment district,” Haslam Sports Group managing, and principal partner Jimmy Haslam said. “I find myself saying, well, we talk about the dome all the time. It's much more than that with the development around that.”
Team officials estimate they have until June 30 to secure state funding for the project and not much longer after that for county and local funding if they are going to get shovels in the ground by the first quarter of 2026.
Thursday afternoon ownership and club officials laid out their plan to fund the project, which has been met with significant resistance from county and city of Cleveland officials, to members of local news outlets, including 92.3 The Fan.
“We've been pretty clear on what our stance is,” Haslam Sports Group chief operating officer David Jenkins said. “County and others have been clear on theirs. We continue to have great dialogue and from great dialogue I think we can get to some solutions. So we maintain hope. We've aspired all along for a unified vision for Northeast Ohio and we remain hopeful we'll get there.”
As we’ve previously reported, the $2.4 billion dome construction cost would be split between the team ($1.2 billion), Cuyahoga County ($178 million) and the city of Brook Park ($422 million). The Haslam Sports Group and their development partners are planning to cover 100% of the $1 billion price tag for the adjoining mixed-use development to be build off Engle Rd.
The Haslam Sports group believes their financing model will not only cover the debt service of the public bonds over 30 years, but leave the state, county, and Brook Park with surplus tax revenues to help “solve” funding for capital repair needs over the life of the building as well as provide flexibility to spend additional tax dollars on other needs.
According to the Haslam Sports Group, the state could net $1.3 billion after debt service on $600 million in bonds over three decades through existing income tax, sales tax and commercial activity taxes that could generate upwards of $2.9 billion over 30 years. The county and city of Brook Park could generate a combined $3.4 billion in revenues and net a combined $2.1 billion in excess revenue over 30 years that could go towards lakefront development, capital repairs for the dome or other city and county operating expenses or projects.
The Browns have pledged that existing tax revenue streams will not be touched to fund construction and they are not seeking grants from the general fund of the state, county or city, unlike what the Baltimore Ravens, Jacksonville Jaguars, Tennessee Titans, Carolina Panthers and Buffalo Bills have received for their stadium construction projects.
The team has proposed an additional 1% hotel bed tax and a rental car surcharge countywide combined with property, sales and sin tax revenues to generate $1.6 billion in revenue over 30 years.
Brook Park’s admissions, income and parking tax combined with property and bed tax revenue could generate as much as $1.8 billion over 30 years for the city.
As the state goes through the budget process, this plan could be modified marginally or significantly, but that will all need to get worked out over the next five months in Columbus.
“I think the optionality of what the governor has presented is great for the situation and it shows a recognition of what these facilities mean to our communities and to the state,” Jenkins said. “So I think having smart minds working on complex equations, working together, we can get there.”
The Browns began weighing a massive renovation or new stadium back in 2017 and over the course of six years they explored a variety of potential sites, including off I-480 where the new county jail is going to be built as well as the Post Office site south of the Gateway district and downtown.
But the flat 176-acre plot of land in Brook Park was an opportunity they felt could not be matched within the county considering its location as well as existing infrastructure.
“If we decided to renovate the stadium, it's 15, 20 years before you look to build a new dome, that land's not going to be there,” Jimmy Haslam said. “And I think a new dome stadium or a new stadium if it were built is probably outside of Cuyahoga County because I don't know if it's luck or skill, probably a combination of both that we found the 176 acres that's flat, has power, which is a big deal, is clean environmentally, is serviced by a major state highway, and two interstates all right across from the airport. I just don't think you're going to find that again. And so we do think it's a once in a lifetime opportunity.”
So why not build at Burke Lakefront Airport?
First it is unknown when the airport would close, likely 2036. Then there is the additional cost. As we've previously reported, the Burke dome option would cost an additional $1 billion, so $3.4 billion, to build on the current timeline. Each year of delay from a 2029 opening date adds 3-5% to the cost per year. Multiply that by 10-15 years and that could easily tack on another billion in costs, which also doesn’t include hundreds of millions in capital repair expenses to maintain the existing stadium until the dome would be ready.
The Browns also explained in detail why they passed on renovating the existing stadium.
A renovation would add 15-20 years of life to the existing stadium versus 50 years of life for a dome. While the cost would be $1.1 billion cheaper, the infrastructure costs balloon to $285-450 million for the lakefront compared to $57-73 million for Brook Park. The Browns say the projected fiscal impact would be $2.1 billion over 20 years for the existing stadium versus $6.3 billion over 30 years for the dome and development.
“[A] renovation is much easier for us,” Jimmy Haslam said. “It takes a lot less of our money. It is a lot less headache, et cetera. I don't think it's the right thing to do. If I was going to be shortsighted, I could say, well 15, 20 years, that's Whitney and JW [Johnson]’s problem. Let them figure it out, but I don't think that's the right thing to do. I think the renovation is a short-term fix.”
While there are no guarantees, a dome would allow Cleveland to compete for major events like the Final Four, the College Football Playoffs, major concert tours that regularly skip northeast Ohio and other marquee events.
The NFL has already dangled another NFL Draft for Cleveland’s lakefront if the dome and development are built the Haslams said.
The dome would seat 65,000 and include an additional 2,500 standing room only for football. The building could be modified to host 75,000 for a major concert or scaled down to 7,000 for smaller events.
The design by HKS architects features a transparent roof made of ETFE material that will give fans the feel of being outdoors while enjoying the climate-controlled comfort of being indoors. The seating bowl will have the closest seats to the field in the NFL and the Dawg Pound will be a 35-degree pitched “wall” akin to what the NBA’s Los Angeles Clippers built in their new arena.
One design tweak has already been made. The primary entrance along with the dome and development to the complex has been rotated from Snow Rd. to facing Engle Rd.
The Browns are also working to tie their project in with the airport overhaul, including the RTA red line.
“We get excited about the thought that we could have a domed stadium, a [modernized] airport, a developed lakefront, and it could be all done," Haslam Sports Group managing and principal partner Dee Haslam said. “And a lot of the funds for the lakefront and some of the development downtown is spun off by what we're doing at Brook Park. And so, we get really excited about that this could be a community that can do it all. We just need to work together to get it done.”