by Jon Styf
The Cleveland Browns plan to move to a new $2.4 billion stadium in Brook Park, Cleveland Mayor Justin Bibb said in a news conference Thursday.
Bibb had been pushing for the Browns to stay in Cleveland and revamp the team’s current stadium. But Bibb says he was told Wednesday night by the leaders of the Haslam Sports Group that the team had decided to move to Brook Park, which Bibb said made him “deeply, deeply disappointed.”
“They had the opportunity to invest in Cleveland, transform the current stadium into a world class facility, enhance the fan experience and remain highly profitable,” Bibb said.
Team ownership is asking for $1.2 billion of the funding for the new project to come from public funds.
The Haslam Sports Group has hinted at looking at a tax capture similar to the one the Tennessee Titans plan to use to fund $1.27 billion of public funding toward the construction of a new stadium.
Cuyahoga County leaders pushed back on the Browns’ proposal in August, with Cuyahoga County Executive Chris Ronayne saying the team was asking for $600 million of the $1.2 billion in public funds for a new Brook Park to come from the county, to which he said “this dog doesn’t hunt.”
Bibb said the Browns’ decision to leave Cleveland for Brook Park will “undoubtedly damage the city, county and region in a multitude of ways.”
Bibb then made an unsubstantiated claim on the economic impact on Cleveland of leaving the city, saying it would cost the city $30 million.
Economists have repeatedly shown that sports stadiums do not bring the promised impact to a city and are not worth it for taxpayers. The team is expected to move to the stadium for the 2029 football season.
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Jon Styf is an award-winning editor and reporter of The Center Square who has worked in Illinois, Texas, Wisconsin, Florida and Michigan in local newsrooms over the past 20 years, working for Shaw Media, Hearst and several other companies.
Photo “Cleveland Browns” by Erik Drost. CC BY 2.0.
