CLEVELAND, Ohio (92.3 The Fan) – The fight over where the Browns will play football come 2029 is on.
The city of Cleveland plans to sue the Browns to keep the team from moving to Brook Park under the ‘Art Modell law’ enacted after Modell moved the original Browns to Baltimore where they became the Ravens following a lengthily stadium fight with the city in the 1990s.
“The law was passed to protect city investments and stop teams from moving when taxpayers support the stadium/team,” a source familiar with the city’s plans told 92.3 The Fan. “If the ownership had not received public dollars, they would be free to go.”
Despite the threat of potential legal action, the Browns plan to move forward and close on the purchase of 176 acres of land in Brook Park off Snow and Engle Roads by the end of the year a source familiar with the team’s plans told 92.3 The Fan. The purchase option, which was secured earlier this year by the Haslam Sports Group, cost $20 million.
The Haslam Sports group plans to forgo a possible $1 billion overhaul of the existing stadium and build a $2.4 billion dome on the Brook Park site along with a mixed-use development that is expected to cost north of $1 billion.
The Browns are seeking a 50-50 public-private funding split for the dome while pledging to privately finance the mixed-use development to be built a few hundred yards from Cleveland Hopkins International Airport, which is slated to undergo a $3 billion overhaul in the coming years. The team would also cover cost overruns for the project.
The construction of the current stadium, which opened in 1999 and cost $289 million with the NFL, late Browns owner Al Lerner, and the state of Ohio combining to pitch in over $110 million, was funded through a variety of public taxes – the county sin tax, city admissions tax, city parking tax as well as a car rental tax making the Modell law relevant.
In addition to servicing the existing stadium construction debt incurred in 1996 and due to be paid in full in 2028, Cleveland is also reimbursing the Browns $2 million annually through 2028 from the city general fund related to the team fronting the cost of a $130 million renovation of the stadium in 2014-2015.
The city, which pays $1.3 million annually in property taxes and insurance premiums for the stadium, has also been responsible for tens of millions in emergency and capital repairs in recent years, the cost of which is mostly covered thanks to county sin tax revenue.
The Modell law, Section 9.67 of the Ohio Revised Code enacted in June of 1996, places restrictions on owners of professional sports teams that uses a tax-supported facility.
“No owner of a professional sports team that uses a tax-supported facility for most of its home games and receives financial assistance from the state or a political subdivision thereof shall cease playing most of its home games at the facility and begin playing most of its home games elsewhere unless the owner either:
(A) Enters into an agreement with the political subdivision permitting the team to play most of its home games elsewhere;
(B) Gives the political subdivision in which the facility is located not less than six months' advance notice of the owner's intention to cease playing most of its home games at the facility and, during the six months after such notice, gives the political subdivision or any individual or group of individuals who reside in the area the opportunity to purchase the team.”
According to a source who spoke on the condition of anonymity due to the sensitive nature of the negotiations between the city and team over the last 24 months, city officials told Browns officials there was “zero chance” Cleveland would approve any new agreement involving city tax dollars and any deal that does “would be dead on arrival,” which encouraged the team to begin looking elsewhere for a new stadium.
In August the city proposed $461 million in funding over 30 years to renovate the stadium. The monies would come from admissions tax and sin tax revenues as well as event day parking revenues from the Willard Garage and Muni lot. Mayor Justin Bibb also asked the Browns to cover the property taxes and insurance for the stadium in lieu of paying $250,000 per year in rent.
The mayor's office did not return an email seeking comment for this story.
On top of the $1 billion renovation, which includes $120 million in capital repairs, additional capital repairs to maintain the existing stadium over the next 20-25 years could reach an additional $700 million a source with direct knowledge of stadium operating costs told 92.3 The Fan.
After the Browns informed Mayor Bibb in early September of their intention to pursue the Brook Park project, Bibb made a last minute pitch for the team to reconsider the Burke Lakefront Airport site as it would be his intention to move forward with closing the airport.
Sources tell 92.3 The Fan the Haslam Sports Group has estimated construction of a dome on the Burke Lakefront Airport site starts at $3.3 billion, assuming construction begins in 2026, but the team’s contribution would still be capped at $1.2 billion meaning an additional $900 million plus hundreds of millions in infrastructure costs would be added to the public contribution to the project. Site availability and construction delays could add another $1.6 billion to the original cost estimate depending on the length of the delay.
