BEREA, Ohio — The Cleveland Browns say they’re still looking for $1.2 billion in public financing for an enclosed stadium in Brook Park – and they haven’t given up on convincing the state and Cuyahoga County to issue bonds to bridge that gap.
Executives from Haslam Sports Group, including owner Jimmy Haslam, sat down with reporters Thursday afternoon to walk through their proposal. The off-camera meeting came as the Browns are trying to win enough government support to make their vision for a mixed-use stadium district a reality – with hopes of starting construction in early 2026.
“These kinds of opportunities don’t come along a lot,” Haslam said.
Their presentation shows that the Haslams are still predicting a $2.4 billion price tag for the stadium, with half that money coming from public sources.
The idea is to have the state and county issue bonds to generate up-front cash for construction. The debt service on those bonds would largely be repaid using new tax revenues from the project - admissions taxes, income taxes, parking taxes and more.
But Cuyahoga County Executive Chris Ronayne has balked at that proposal. And in early February, Gov. Mike DeWine said there’s a role the state can play in helping to pay for new and renovated stadium projects – but his solution doesn’t involve bonds.
RELATED: Cuyahoga County leaders say they won't back a new Browns stadium in Brook Park
As part of his biennial budget plan – a jumping-off point for discussions with the General Assembly – DeWine wants to double the tax rate that sports gambling companies pay on profits. That idea, outlined in House Bill 96, calls for raising Ohio’s sports-betting tax to 40%. It’s 20% today. The DeWine administration believes the state’s take would increase by $130 million to $180 million a year – money for facilities and youth sports programs.
But even if that proposal gains support from legislators, the money might not come in fast enough for the Browns. DeWine’s budget bill says decisions about stadium funding would be managed by a new advisory committee, with most of its members appointed by the governor and Ohio House and Senate leaders.
That will take time. And the Browns are racing the clock. Their lease on Cleveland’s Huntington Bank Field ends after the 2028 football season, and they hope to start playing in Brook Park in 2029. It takes at least three years to build a new stadium.
House Bill 96 says new major sports facilities must cost $1 billion or more to qualify for state aid. State funding would also be available for stadium-renovation projects, if they cost at least $100 million. For mixed-use stadium districts, like what the Haslams want to build in Brook Park, the state could pay up to 40% of the bill.
RELATED: DeWine reveals plan for Ohio taxpayers to help pay for Browns dome in Brook Park
In exchange for state money, teams would have to commit to playing most of their home games in the new or renovated stadiums for 30 years.
Haslam said his family sees the Brook Park project as a long-term play. “This facility we would build would last at least 50 years,” he said.
The enclosed stadium would be surrounded by private developments – apartments, offices, hotels, retail, restaurants and 12,000 to 14,000 surface parking spaces. That part of the project, with an estimated cost of $1 billion, would be privately funded.
RELATED: How will the Browns pay for a new stadium in Brook Park? Here's what we know.
“We look at this as a sports and entertainment district,” Haslam said.
The Browns predict that the project will yield a net gain of more than $3.4 billion for Brook Park, the county and the state over three decades. Executives suggested that money could be used both for upkeep of the suburban stadium and to pay for other projects, from an overhaul of Cleveland Hopkins Airport to new county buildings to remaking the lakefront.
Thursday’s meeting marked the first public unveiling of a financing plan that Haslam Sports Group has been quietly shopping to lawmakers for at least a year.
They’re still asking the county to use its credit to issue bonds to generate up to $600 million for the project. That debt would be repaid using a mix of city and county taxes – tax revenues generated by the entire mixed-use development.
In Brook Park, the Browns are talking about tapping admissions taxes, income taxes and parking taxes. At the county level, they’re asking officials to add 1% to the existing bed tax on hotel stays. And they’re asking the county to create a countywide rental car fee.
“What enables this entire thing … is the strength of the county’s balance sheet. Their ability to borrow money much cheaper than Brook Park,” said Dave Jenkins, the team’s chief operating officer.
He said the Browns are working through alternatives, though, if the team can’t reach a deal with the county.
Ronayne has urged the Browns to stay Downtown. He’s expressed skepticism about the team’s financial projections for the Brook Park deal.
He’s also said the Haslams’ public-financing request is too much for the county to take on at a time when there are so many other needs, including a new county jail and a possible consolidated courthouse on the horizon.
Brook Park Mayor Edward Orcutt has told News 5 that he’s enthusiastic about the project – and the prospect of luring new residents, businesses and spending to his inner-ring suburb. But the deal has to work for the city and the region.
The Haslams have been meeting with Ronayne – and Cleveland Mayor Justin Bibb, who broke the news in October when the team’s owners ended long-running talks about renovating the existing stadium and renewing their lease Downtown.
RELATED: Browns leaving Downtown Cleveland for Brook Park
On Thursday, Haslam and Jenkins outlined their concerns about staying put on the lakefront, from limited parking to traffic snarls getting in and out of the stadium to ongoing repair needs at the 25-year-old building.
“It is a castle … and there’s no real way to fix it,” Haslam said.
He and Jenkins also reiterated that building a new enclosed stadium on part of the Burke Lakefront Airport property – an idea floated by the city – is off the table.
The Brook Park plans call for two hotels, 1,100 apartments, 300,000 square feet of retail and 500,000 square feet of office space – plus a sea of parking around a 67,500-seat enclosed stadium. The first phase of the mixed-use development would open in 2029, with about half the apartments and retail and 450 hotel rooms.
If, that is, they can get the buy-in they need to pay for it.
The state’s budget has to be approved by late June.
“The most difficult part of this project is the public funding. We know how to finance things privately from our former lives with Pilot,” Haslam said, referring to the truck stop and travel center business that his family recently sold off. “I think we know how to build stuff. I think we have a good team. It’s working at the public financing, and that will happen over the next four and a half months."
“We work on it every day,” he added.
