CLEVELAND, Ohio (92.3 The Fan) – Following an eight year stadium planning process, the Cleveland Browns have decided to pursue a new dome in Brook Park.
Cleveland Mayor Justin Bibb upstaged the Browns and Game 3 of the American League Championship Series between the Yankees and Guardians by making the announcement at a press conference Thursday afternoon at Cleveland City Hall.
“I am deeply disappointed that, despite our exhaustive efforts, the Haslam Sports Group is choosing to pursue a move to Brook Park,” Bibb said. “This is a deliberate choice—one driven by a desire to maximize profits rather than positive impact. They had the opportunity to reinvest in Cleveland, transform the current stadium into a world-class facility, enhance the fan experience, and remain highly profitable. We put those options on the table in good faith. Unfortunately, that was not enough.”
Bibb said Thursday the Haslams informed him Wednesday night of their final decision to build in Brook Park, and pass on a last ditch effort by city and county officials to get the Browns to accept a temporary renovation and future dome to be built at Burke Lakefront Airport.
“We’ve learned through our exhaustive work that renovating our current stadium will simply not solve many operational issues and would be a short-term approach,” Browns managing and principal partners Dee and Jimmy Haslam said in a statement. “With more time to reflect, we have also realized that without a dome, we will not attract the type of large-scale events and year-round activity to justify the magnitude of this public-private partnership. The transformational economic opportunities created by a dome far outweigh what a renovated stadium could produce with around ten events per year.”
Last month, team officials informed Bibb of their decision to forgo a $1.2 billion renovation of the existing lakefront stadium and pursue construction of a $2.4 billion dome in Brook Park according to sources familiar with the meeting who spoke on the condition of anonymity due to the sensitivity of the conversation.
Browns principal and managing partner Jimmy Haslam and chief operating officer David Jenkins broke the news to Bibb in a closed-door meeting at City Hall on September 9 as the two sides began crafting an exit strategy for the team when the Burke option was pitched.
Following that September meeting with Bibb, the Browns revisited the proposal as part of their due diligence but declined the plan due to similar accessibility challenges the current stadium has, significant infrastructure costs related to improving and accessing the site, the need for a complete re-design of the dome, skyrocketing construction costs that could top $5 billion for the dome alone, a significant renovation to the existing stadium would still be required which would significantly increase the public investment, and the land may not be available until the airport could be closed in 2036.
“In the spirit of exhausting all downtown options and continuing to work in good faith with the Mayor, when he announced his efforts to potentially make Burke available for development last month, we engaged in further diligence with the city and County Executive Ronayne’s staff regarding a potential dome stadium on Burke,” the Haslams said. “The significant design, construction, geotechnical and environmental challenges were again apparent. Our work reinforced that despite the City, County and our team doing their best to make the economics work, building a stadium on the Burke property is cost prohibitive and not feasible, especially with no certainty regarding potential timing of closure of the Airport.”
In September, the city of Cleveland announced the results of two studies – a feasibility to close the airport and economic impact of redevelopment – related to the potential closure of Burke Lakefront Airport.
In early August, Bibb offered the Browns $461 million in funding over 30 years for a renovation of the existing stadium through a combination of city admissions tax, county sin tax and event day parking revenue from the Muni Lot and Willard Garage in his proposal to the team.
Due to the condition of the existing stadium and the current and future capital repairs needs, the funding proposed by Bibb would not be sufficient to cover those needs over a new 30-year lease sources tell 92.3 The Fan.
The decision to pursue a new 67,500 capacity dome with 65,000 seats in Brook Park is the culmination of a stadium planning process that began in 2017, shortly after the Browns completed a $125 million upgrade to the stadium and ultimately led the Browns to the old Ford plant site on Engle and Snow Roads.
The team investigated a variety of sites for a potential new stadium or dome over the last eight years including 80-plus acres located off I-480 and Transportation Blvd., the I-480, I-77 and Rockside Rd. area in Independence, Burke Lakefront Airport as well as land near the post office south of downtown Cleveland.
Following the completion of their original stadium site surveys and evaluations, the Haslam Sports Group secured a purchase option agreement for 176 acres of land for the dome and development just east of Cleveland Hopkins International Airport in Brook Park earlier this year.
The Haslam Sports Group has pledged $1.2 billion plus cost overruns to the dome project while requesting the remaining $1.2 billion plus infrastructure costs be covered by state, county, and local municipality contributions.
Team officials have been lobbying at the state, county, and local levels for months to secure funding for both projects, but now the focus will be on the new Brook Park dome and development.
“With the funding mechanisms we continue to work on, this stadium will not use existing taxpayer-funded streams that would divert resources from other more pressing needs,” the Haslams said. “Instead, the over $2 billion private investment, together with the public investment, will create a major economic development project that will drive the activity necessary to pay the public bond debt service through future project-generated and Browns-generated revenue.”
The Cincinnati Bengals are also seeking state funding towards a proposed $1.2 billion renovation of Paycor Stadium, which opened in 2000.
With the lakefront stadium lease set to expire following the 2028 season, the Haslam Sports Group is eager to open the Brook Park dome, which will be built 80 feet below street grade to accommodate FAA airport regulations, in August 2029 to avoid construction timeline delays that will add an estimated 5-10% per year to the overall cost of the project.
Earlier this month the Browns secured a 20-year stadium naming rights agreement with Columbus-based Huntington Bank, including the transfer of the new name – Huntington Bank Field – from the existing stadium to the new Brook Park dome.
In addition to negotiations with the city of Cleveland, the Browns have also spent the last 18 months working with Brook Park officials on their plans for the possible dome and adjoining mixed use development which will include hotels, restaurants, bars, retail, and housing that will be privately financed at a cost of between $1-1.4 billion.
Estimated infrastructure costs for the Brook Park site as the result of traffic studies conducted earlier this year came in at around $40 million sources tell 92.3 The Fan, significantly less than the proposed $450 million lakefront connector project to make the lakefront more accessible to cars and pedestrians for the existing stadium and future development projects.
In addition to providing the Browns an additional revenue stream in the form of 20,000 new parking spaces, the team believes the new dome and development complex will enable Cleveland to pursue a variety of marquee events: College Football Playoff games, including the national championship; the BIG championship game; neutral site college football games; major concert tours, including in-season; the NCAA Men’s Final Four; another NFL Draft as well as other events that can’t be bid on even with a massive renovation to the existing stadium.
“A solution like this will be transformative not only for Cleveland and Northeast Ohio, but also the entire state of Ohio from the resulting events, tourism, and job creation,” the Haslams said. “Additionally, moving the current stadium will allow the city and region’s collective vision for the Cleveland lakefront to be optimally realized, and downtown will benefit from the major events the Brook Park dome brings to the region.
“Cleveland and Northeast Ohio are the fabric of the Browns and that will always be the case. Our community commitment to Cleveland and efforts to improve the lives of its residents will not change.
“Again, our work with Mayor Bibb and city officials has been transparent and collaborative throughout. We will continue to work in earnest with city, county, and state officials to work together on these transformational opportunities.
“As we have previously said, we understand this is a complex process with more questions still to be answered and we will continue to communicate openly as our process evolves. We recognize our season on the field has not had the start we all hoped for and are working hard to improve each week to make our fans proud. At the same time, it is critical that we remain committed to the best long-term, sustainable solution for our stadium and to providing the world-class dome experience our fans deserve. We are confident that the Brook Park project will significantly benefit the Northeast Ohio region for generations to come.”
Sources tell 92.3 The Fan that the Haslam Sports Group has been working with the Port Authority in recent months to have their dome and development construction ally with the $3 billion overhaul of Hopkins International Airport, especially with the expected reconfiguration of State Route 237 as part of that project. Infrastructure improvements would also include an RTA ‘Red Line,’ which runs to Hopkins from downtown, tie-in to the dome and development.
After being informed of the Browns decision, Bibb made three requests of the Haslam Sports Group according to sources familiar with the meeting who spoke on the condition of anonymity due to the sensitivity of the conversation. The first was that the Browns pay for the demolition of the current stadium, which should cost between $15-25 million. Bibb also sought financial support for small business owners impacted by the team’s departure to Brook Park as well as support from the Haslam Sports Group and Browns for the development of the lakefront.
Earlier this year Cleveland received $20 million from the state for the land bridge project to connect Mall C to the lakefront and earlier this week a $59.7 million federal grant was earmarked to help convert State Route 2 downtown into a boulevard.
With the stadium decision finally made, the Haslam Sports Group will now move full steam ahead on securing financing for the project so they can complete construction in time for the start of the 2029 season.