CLEVELAND — The Cleveland Browns announced the team will now play at Huntington Bank Field, with the news revealed on Tuesday morning during a "special announcement" with the Haslam Sports Group.
Watch the announcement:
Huntington Bank, headquartered in Columbus, and the Browns are entering a 20-year partnership with new naming rights on the stadium. The rights follow the team wherever it plays — Downtown or Brook Park.
The first game at the Huntington Bank Field will be played on Sept. 8, when the Browns will take on the Dallas Cowboys.
The announcement of the new name was a mystery until Tuesday morning. Even City of Cleveland City Council members were shocked.
"It should have come before council first before they held a big news conference. The terms are very clear. They’ve got to get approval from Cleveland City Council. I don’t know if they overlooked that small part, but they’ve got to get approval from us," Cleveland City Council Ward 8 Councilman Mike Polensek said.
Polensek explained that a new deal should have gone through a committee hearing to address council member questions.
"Are they in compliance with the community reinvestment act? Why does the name transfer should they decide to go to Brook Park? Are we supposed to be left with a no name stadium?," Polensek asked.
However, according to the team's lease agreement with Cleveland, the city council only has grounds to reject the deal with Huntington Bank under certain situations. Specifically, the lease agreement states: "The Lessee shall not permit any name to be given to the New Stadium without prior approval of the City Council, which approval shall not be withheld unless the proposed name (i) violates applicable law or (ii) would reasonably cause embarrassment to the City (such as names containing slang, barbarisms or profanity, that could be construed to encourage the use of tobacco or alcohol by minors, that relate to any illicit drugs or any sexually oriented business or enterprise, or that contain an overt political reference)." Additionally, the council can't ask for anything in return from the team or the bank.
Another question he wants to ask is how much Huntington Bank is investing in the Browns and the city.
Huntington Bank CEO Stephen Steinour said at Tuesday's announcement that the name change will bring in a "spur of significant new economic growth and development."
"We're going to get nothing out of it. The taxpayers are going to get zip, zip-o out of that," Polensek said. "This whole past two decades that the Cleveland taxpayers have supported them, what have we gotten in return out of it except that debt? That's what we've gotten out of it."
He also stated that the City Council has been told Huntington's investment is tens of millions of dollars. But he wants specifics.
"Huntington has a program: 'Ignite the Classroom.' It inspires students. And that will align perfectly with our ‘Stay in the Game’ to fight chronic absenteeism and we’re really excited to be able to really make an impact on students not just in this region but around the state," Cleveland Browns Co-Owner Dee Haslam explained.
Polensek stated he'd like to see Huntington Bank assist his constituents with purchasing homes, maybe adopting a local school, or even helping with local athletic complexes.
"Those are the kinds of discussions we need to have and those kinds of discussions are not taking place and it's about time they do happen," he added.
Cleveland City Council has scheduled a special hearing for Wednesday at 11 a.m. to discuss the naming right deal.
The question is: Will it pass, or will the Browns be forced back to the drawing board?
"I'm not a rubber stamp. I don't rubber stamp anything there. So you either give me the answers I want to hear or don't expect my vote," Polensek stated. "We've got to quit being disrespected in this city. I wanna say that again. We gotta quit being disrespected. I won't let my citizens get disrespected nor I in this neighborhood. I'm not going to be disrespected. There was a process to go through. They didn't follow the process. Now they ask us to ratify after the fact. We need some answers to our questions."
Polensek plans to ask a multitude of questions at Wednesday's special hearing.
The current name, Cleveland Browns Stadium, has been used since the team ended its naming rights agreement with FirstEnergy in 2023.
RELATED: FirstEnergy Stadium no more — Browns, company end naming rights agreement
Before that agreement ended, FirstEnergy had its name emblazoned on the facility for a decade.
The original contract was to have FirstEnergy on the stadium for another seven years, but the agreement was ended early with an "amicable decision" following that company's bribery scandal.
RELATED: City Council passes resolution for FirstEnergy to remove name from Browns stadium
