It’s no secret the Cleveland Browns are trying to move out of downtown Cleveland.
But what may be surprising is how the Browns’ legal battle with the city is affecting both residents and business owners in the city by the lake.
The Browns have been playing offense by releasing statements about the open-air Huntington Bank Field’s lack of available dates for events and filing suit against Cleveland. to let them out of their lease at the 26-year-old facility. The Browns want to move to the suburban town of Brook Park, Ohio and play in a $2 billion-plus dome stadium.
But Clevelanders have been quiet until recently, when The Guardian caught up with local politicians and those who might be affected financially if the Browns move about 17 miles southwest to Brook Park.
What Are Clevelanders Saying About The Browns’ Move?
The move from Cleveland to Brook Park may not be as dramatic, or financially and emotionally scarring as the Browns’ move to Baltimore.
But there are enough people who will be affected if Cleveland owners Jimmy and Dee Haslam get their wish of more than $1 billion in public subsidies — from Cuyahoga County and the State of Ohio — for their new dome.
“I don’t want to see our taxpayers get fleeced in a deal that socializes the risk back to them and puts the profits in the pockets of a few,” Cuyahoga county executive Chris Ronayne told The Guardian. “We’re talking about something bigger than these teams; we’re talking about community vibrancy. The move away is counter to our strategy of keeping the downtown robust.”
The Haslams may lament the two-and-a-half-decade-old stadium where they play, but the Browns home is the youngest sporting facility in Cleveland — behind the Guardians‘ home Progressive Field and the Cavaliers‘ home arena, Rocket Arena, each of which opened in 1994.
Aside from that, business owners could lose huge portions of their annual finances if the Browns move out of town. The city estimates it makes at least $1 million in parking and hotel taxes alone per home game day.
“It’s just billionaires trying to make more billions, and I can’t stomach that,” Ryan James, co-owner of Cleveland’s oldest Irish pub the Flat Iron Cafe told The Guardian after estimating that the pub makes about 10 percent of its annual income on Browns game days. “I have no respect for the organization.”
Cleveland has reportedly offered $500 million in public funds to renovate Huntington Bank Field, which would not be enough to add a dome. Cuyahoga officials are even open to contributing public money for a dome downtown.
“We can make a renovation, and you can have a conversation in the future about a new dome stadium downtown,” Ronayne said. “This is the youngest of the three [facilities] downtown. This mad rush to Brook Park is just a boondoggle.”
How Do Brook Park People Feel About the Browns Moving In?
The Haslams are adding insult to potential injury by requesting a judge to force Cleveland to pay the Browns’ legal fees, as well as the city’s lawyers.
So even though there is the potential for a similar end game in Brook Park over the next three decades, those in the suburbs are excited about the Browns to potentially play closer to them.
“I think it would be good for my business and the people of Brook Park,” Sam Clarke, who owns a graphic-design company adjacent to the new stadium site told The Guardian. “It’s really not even moving out of Cleveland and most of the people who go to the games are in the suburbs anyway.”
An April investigation by the Ohio Capital Journal found that Haslam has curried support for his dome from lawmakers in exchange for huge campaign donations. According to the report, the Haslams sent about $61,000 in campaign contributions to Republican Ohio House speaker Matt Huffman, who has publicly supported the dome.
Though Huffman was the most well-funded Ohio congressperson from the Haslams, they were hardly alone. Republican House Finance Chair Brian Stewart, who received about $15,000 from the Haslams, called the dome “a destination center,” according to the Columbus Dispatch.
So the new dome seems likely, and even though he appreciates the impact it’ll have on his town, Clarke is still leery of it.
“[The move] is not going to matter if the owners are always making the worst moves,” Clarke said. “They can’t really ever seem to get out of their own way. You can play wherever you want but it doesn’t change the bigger issue.”
