CLEVELAND — Last week, with state legislators considering make-or-break funding for a new suburban Cleveland Browns stadium, Mayor Justin Bibb and Cuyahoga County Executive Chris Ronayne pleaded with Columbus to help them keep the Browns Downtown.
On Thursday afternoon, team owner Haslam Sports Group sent a letter to Ronayne criticizing his recent comments - while standing firm on the team’s desire to build an enclosed stadium in Brook Park.
The letter, signed by Haslam Sports Group Chief Operating Officer Dave Jenkins, chides Ronayne for sharing “misleading information,” offers a bulleted list of reasons why local leaders should support the team’s Brook Park plans, and then states:
“It is truly disheartening to see you, as County Executive, actively work against a potential $600 million investment from the State that would be paired with $2 billion+ in private investment for an unprecedented $3 billion+ economic development project centrally located in Cuyahoga County. These are the types of inexplicable decisions that keep the Greater Cleveland region from thriving, while other regions like Columbus and Cincinnati continue to grow and evolve.”
You can read the entire letter here:
In the letter, shared with News 5, the Browns make clear that they'd still prefer to get the county's buy-in - and help with stadium financing. But Jenkins says Haslam Sports Group can move forward with or without the county: “To further clear up misinformation, while we have not given up on our elusive goal of local unity, and the upside for the public is far greater with the County’s partnership, we remain undeterred and are not relying on the County’s participation to execute this project.”
Ronayne responded to the letter by calling the Browns' plans "unrealistic," saying the $2.4 billion Brook Park stadium proposal will create "an unacceptable amount of risk for taxpayers."
Haslam Sports Group is asking the public to cover half the tab - $1.2 billion. They've been asking the state and county to each borrow $600 million by issuing bonds - debt that would largely be repaid using tax revenues from the entire 176-acre Brook Park stadium district.
Cuyahoga County has evaluated the unrealistic assumptions made in Haslam Sports Group’s stadium proposal in Brook Park and has come to the same conclusion as the nonpartisan Legislative Services Commission and the State’s Office of Budget and Management: the request for $600 million in bonds from the State of Ohio and $600 million in bonds from Cuyahoga County will create an unacceptable amount of risk for taxpayers in Cuyahoga County and in Ohio. We urge state lawmakers to consider the public and private investments throughout Northeast Ohio that stand to be negatively impacted by a stadium and entertainment district in Brook Park built with an unprecedented level of public subsidy. Instead, we ask them to invest in our existing assets on the lakefront and help us leverage them for the continued growth and success in our region.
Budget time
In a joint letter to members of the Ohio Senate last week, Ronayne and Bibb asked lawmakers to help pay for a renovation of Huntington Bank Field instead of ground-up construction of an enclosed stadium in Brook Park.
“The lakefront stadium transformation plan is a far more reasonable and responsible one for Ohio taxpayers,” Bibb and Ronayne wrote.
Local leaders and the Browns recently went back and forth on the issue:
Bibb and Ronayne said there is a viable plan to keep the Browns in the central business district, as an anchor for a reimagined lakefront. They’re asking the state to kick in $350 million for a $1.2 billion renovations of the city-owned stadium. They said Cleveland and Cuyahoga County will chip in, too.
The Browns are on a tight timeline to line up financing and start construction in Brook Park. They need to break ground early next year in order to move by the start of the 2029 NFL season. The team's lease on the existing stadium ends in early 2029.
The Ohio House recently included $600 million in bonds for the Brook Park stadium in its version of the state budget bill. The Senate is working on its own version of the budget now, with the goal of passing a bill by mid-June.
Then the chambers will work out any differences between their versions before sending the budget to Gov. Mike DeWine for his signature. The deadline for signing the budget is June 30.
The governor, meanwhile, is urging lawmakers to take a different - and more holistic - approach to paying for pro sports facilities. He wants to increase the tax on sports-gaming companies' profits to create a dedicated fund for stadiums and investments in youth sports.
