Browns Push Forward on $2.4B Stadium Despite Political Obstacles

The Browns’ relationship status with Cuyahoga County, Ohio, is certainly complicated, adding to the drama surrounding the NFL team.

Browns owners Jimmy and Dee Haslam said they are fully moving ahead with their planned $2.4 billion domed stadium and mixed-use development in suburban Brook Park, Ohio, despite a series of funding and legal obstacles. How the county will be involved in the effort, if at all, remains quite uncertain.

On one hand, the Haslams said they are prepared to move forward without any financial involvement from the county, despite prior aims of garnering $300 million toward the project from that jurisdiction. Along similar lines, county executive Chris Ronayne said he has no intention of contributing to a project he has frequently called “a boondoggle.”

On the other hand, though, the team still wants to build a relationship with county leaders. 

“Now is the time to work together,” Jimmy Haslam said. “Maybe it doesn’t work out with the county, but now’s the time to sit down and see if we can’t work together. This is an important project. I don’t think many other entities are spending $2 billion–plus in this community.”

So You’re Telling Me There’s a Chance

As the county situation plays out, the Browns’ stadium project is also battling complications on multiple other fronts. There is an active lawsuit related to the team’s plan to draw $600 million from an account of unclaimed state funds. Separately, the city of Cleveland is challenging various components of the team’s current lease for the downtown Huntington Bank Field, even after a separate challenge related to Ohio’s Modell Law was mooted. 

The state money is half of what the team had targeted to gain from public sources, with the Haslams originally set to contribute $1.2 billion. There are hopes of gaining $300 million in municipal-level support from Brook Park, leaving a final $300 million unaccounted for. 

Amid all of that, Jimmy Haslam said there is “a 99.9% chance” of the Brook Park stadium happening, but he also acknowledged the inherent difficulties. A formal groundbreaking is targeted for early next year in advance of a projected stadium opening in 2029.

“This is a complicated project,” he said. “There’s stuff going on. It’s three and a half years until the stadium opens, and we will have to work hard every day to get everything to come together.

“We’re going to have the groundbreaking regardless,” Jimmy Haslam said. “Let me say this and try to be very respectful of everybody. … We can do the project without the county. I think it’s best if the county and [Haslam Sports Group] work together, O.K.? And I won’t say anything more than that.”

The Browns’ stadium situation is developing as similar ones are unfolding for current and potential NFL facilities in markets such as Cincinnati, Philadelphia, and Washington, D.C.