CLEVELAND, Ohio (92.3 The Fan) – As county and city of Cleveland leaders continue to oppose the Browns planned Brook Park Dome and mixed-use development, the team released a 10-page economic impact study Thursday touting the financial benefits of the project to the region.
Over the last 24 months the Haslam Sports Group has worked with RCLCO, a national real estate consulting firm, to evaluate their stadium options – renovating the existing stadium by the lake or building new.
The findings ultimately informed the Browns of their decision to pursue the $2.4 billion Brook Park dome and adjoining $1 billion-plus mixed-use development to be built on over 176 acres of land bordering Snow and Engle Roads just west of Interstate 71 and south of Interstate 480.
“Their expertise analyzing job creation, event attraction, and office/retail needs in relation to sports venue-anchored real estate developments reinforced three primary conclusions, which underscore why a new Huntington Bank Field enclosed stadium in Brook Park will have a transformative impact on the Northeast Ohio region and Greater Cleveland,” Browns chief operating officer David Jenkins said.
“We are pleased to share key findings from this study to further illustrate why we strongly believe a new enclosed stadium and adjacent mixed-use development in Brook Park is the best long-term solution for our fans and how it will transform our region.”
The Haslam Sports Group is expected to close on the sale of the land in Brook Park by the end of the month after securing a purchase option agreement for it earlier this year that cost $20 milllon.
RCLCO found that the new dome and development is estimated to generate “$1.2 billion in annual economic output, with $550 million projected to come from the surrounding mixed-use development, and $217 million” projected to come from major events hosted at the dome.
The mixed-use development hopes to attract visitors to new “retail spaces, multi-unit housing, office space and much-needed hotel rooms to the area.”
According to the study, the Brook Park dome and development is expected to support “nearly 5,400 full-time equivalent permanent jobs, including 870 at the stadium, 2,520 in the adjacent mixed-use district, and 1,980 at surrounding businesses serving visitors, residents, and employees associated with the project.”
Construction of the dome and first phase of the mixed-use development, which is expected to take three years and be completed by August 2029, is expected to support “an average of more than 6,000 direct jobs” per year the study said.
Outside Cuyahoga County, the project is projected to generate $181 million in additional economic impact.
Cuyahoga County responded to the release of the impact study with the following statement:
“Haslam Sports Group has not shared its economic impact study with us. We don’t want to engage in a game of political football, but a biased report attempting to justify an unprecedented sum of taxpayer money for a new stadium does not change our position, and we’re going to have to throw a flag on the play.
“Economic impact studies commissioned by organizations with a vested interest often present overly optimistic projections that do not reflect the financial realities faced by local governments and taxpayers. Our residents remain our top priority, and we want to ensure that any public participation benefits them, our communities, and the investments the public and private sector have already made.”
The Browns had hoped to present the study and discuss the current stadium situation as well as Brook Park proposal with county leaders, including county executive Chris Ronayne, but Ronayne continues to refuse to meet with team officials. A meeting between the parties that was scheduled for this week was cancelled by the county.
The Haslam Sports Group is hoping a new Brook Park dome will allow Cleveland and northeast Ohio to compete for major concert tours as well as premiere sporting events including College Football Playoff games and championship as well as NCAA men’s Final Four.
The study leaned on the economic impact of domes in Indianapolis, Minneapolis and Detroit and the fact that those three cities “hosted concerts and other major events three to four times more often than Huntington Bank Field… Many of these tours and other events chose to bypass Cleveland, highlighting the potential for increased activity with a new domed stadium.”
RCLCO also found that “over 40% of visitors to the three major non-Browns events at Huntington Bank Stadium in 2024 were from outside Ohio. At other large events similar to those that would be targeted for the new domed stadium, 65% to 75% of visitors are typically from out of market.”
The current open-air stadium is hosting 10-13 events per year on average, including Browns games, and the Haslam Sports Group has said a new Brook Park dome will allow them to significantly increase major event scheduling.
City and county leaders, who desire a renovation of the existing stadium on its own or combined with a new dome to be built on Burke Lakefront Airport within the next 12 years, believe a new dome in Brook Park will severely impact downtown Cleveland in a negative way by taking business and events that would be hosted at current venues away.
The study released by the Browns Thursday disputes those claims and believes that downtown Cleveland could see an annual increase of nearly $11 million in economic impact with a Brook Park dome as opposed to maintaining the status quo with an open-air downtown stadium.
“Regions that are the most successful at regularly attracting and hosting premier major events have multiple venues of varying capacities that complement each other rather than compete with each other,” the study said. “A dome stadium would be additive to attracting different types of major events to Northeast Ohio and generally not competitive to Rocket Mortgage Field House, similar to how Indianapolis and Detroit each offer both an arena and a domed stadium as venue options.”
With an estimated 40% out of market attendance rate for major events, the study cites a lack of sufficient “hospitality infrastructure around Brook Park to accommodate all these individuals on game and event days” as well as a desire for visitors to stay within the downtown core to support their findings.
Cleveland stands to lose nearly $10 million in tax revenue should the Browns leave downtown or the city limits, but the city has struggled to keep up with escalating capital repair costs and debt service on the existing stadium.
This past week the city of Cleveland reached an agreement to cover $20 million in existing maintenance and repair costs for the Gateway complex, home to Rocket Mortgage FieldHouse and Progressive Field. Cuyahoga County is covering the other $20 million in budget shortfalls.
The construction of the Gateway complex was largely financed with a county-wide ‘sin tax’ on cigarettes and alcohol, but current tax revenues are unable to cover existing renovations and maintenance for both buildings, the costs of which have surpassed the original cost of the complex, a major concern for county and city leaders.
The Haslam Sports Group has proposed a 50-50 public private split for the Brook Park dome while the mixed-use development is to be 10% privately financed. The Haslams have also committed to covering construction cost overruns for the dome.
The team is hoping the $1.2 billion public contribution will be divided between the state, county and city, and the bonds would be paid for by tax revenues generated by the dome and mixed-use development over 30 years while avoiding the need for additional regional taxes or diverting existing tax streams that cover regional needs and services to the complex.
Relocating to Brook Park would relieve Cleveland of the financial responsibilities that city leaders bemoan as owners and landlords of the current lakefront stadium.
The study indicated that nearly two million square feet of mixed-use development could be built on the existing 20-acre lakefront plot the current stadium sits on, generating income, sales and property tax revenue year-round as opposed to just the 10-13 times per year the current stadium is used.
