The Cleveland Browns have been given the green light to move away from their historic home.
Franchise bosses have made clear their desire to build a state-of-the-art, $2.4billion stadium that would see the team move out of downtown Cleveland.
The Browns are set to move away from Huntington Bank FieldGettyThe Browns have played at a waterfront site, where Huntington Bank Field sits, for 80 years.
But last week, the Ohio legislature cleared the way for the team to turn their suburban Brook Park indoor stadium dreams into reality.
The state Senate and House of Representatives separately approved a budget that includes $600m for the new facility, to be built about 15 minutes southwest of the current home field in downtown Cleveland.
According to The Athletic, the budget includes a new Sports and Culture Facility Fund, which will take $1.7bn from the state’s $4.8bn in unclaimed funds.
The Browns will get $600m of that money and pay it back via tax revenues from the Brook Park project, and the remaining $1.1bn will be devoted to future facility projects and upgrades.
For months, the team and the city of Cleveland had been battling over the proposed stadium move, with both parties filing suits regarding the application of the Modell Law.
That Ohio legislation was passed in the 1990s, with the aim of keeping teams from leaving the state after former Bowns owner Art Modell moved the team from Cleveland to Baltimore for the 1996 NFL season.
A late addition to the newly passed state budget made a significant amendment to the Modell Law that should effectively end the legal battle, because the team is this time relocating within Cuyahoga County.
However, Ohio governor Mike DeWine can veto any piece of the budget before it has to be finalized on Monday, June 30.
Per a report from Crain’s Cleveland Business, the Browns on Friday officially bought the 176-acre Brook Park land, where they plan to build their stadium and entertainment complex, for $76m.
The new stadium, located in Brook Park, could host future Super BowlsCleveland Browns The site, located close to an airport, would also be home to an entertainment complexCleveland BrownsCuyahoga County records indicate that the official purchase was made by Primacy Development LLC, an affiliate of Haslam Sports Group (headed by team owners Jimmy and Dee Haslam), just days after the Ohio legislature approved the state’s budget.
The Haslam Sports Group had pledged $1.2bn in private funding, plus potential overruns, towards the $2.4bn cost of the project and securing the land suggests confidence that they’re headed for Brook Park.
Should full clearance be granted, the new stadium will open in time for the 2029 season — after the expiration of the lease on the current home of the Browns.
The Browns owners have previously said they planned to begin construction in early 2026, if the state budget included the $600m for the new site, which has been described as ‘a sports and entertainment district.’
NFL commissioner Roger Goodell has also recently dangled a large carrot for the state, suggesting that the proposed new stadium in Brook Park ‘would clearly be Super Bowl material.’
“I would tell you that (the existing stadium) doesn’t match the standards or the qualities that current stadiums are matching,” he said of Huntington Bank Field.
Huntington Bank Field is currently not up to scratch to host the Super BowlGetty“More importantly, I think our projects are changing from pure stadiums, but to really significant developments and mixed-use, type of developments beyond the stadium that can generate significant economic impact to the local communities.”
The city of Cleveland, however, wanted to renovate the current stadium, which opened in 1999 on the site of the old Cleveland Municipal Stadium.
Regardless of how the team performs on the field, the stadium and franchise have served as an economic linchpin for the downtown area.
In parking and hotel taxes alone, the city is thought to earn about $1m per game.
The Browns, however, have consistently called any renovation plans ‘a short-term fix’ and now look set to move forward with their relocation to Brook Park.
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