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. That debt would largely be repaid using tax revenues from the project - admissions taxes, income taxes, parking taxes and more.
"There's not one penny of existing taxes coming out of the county, the city, Brook Park's, the state's budget that would be directed towards this project," said Dave Jenkins, the chief operating officer of Haslam Sports Group.
"It's really complex," he added, "but there's some mistruth out there about what it's going to do to taxpayers, how it's going to get paid for. And it's important to have the facts out there."
But Cuyahoga County Executive Chris Ronayne has balked at that proposal. He doubled down on his skepticism Thursday afternoon.
"It's a Hail Mary, and we don't see it," he said during an on-camera interview. "We don't see the dog hunting. We don't see ourselves putting taxpayers at risk with this Brook Park plan."
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, at this point, doesn’t center on bonds.
RELATED: Cuyahoga County leaders say they won't back a new Browns stadium in Brook Park
As part of his biennial budget proposal – 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 that could go toward new and renovated sports facilities and youth sports programs.
But even if that idea 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.
The governor's budget proposal 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 development – apartments, offices, hotels, retail, restaurants and 12,000 to 14,000 surface parking spaces. The mixed-use portion 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 produce a net gain of more than $3.4 billion for Brook Park, the county and the state over three decades.
Consultants working with the Browns say the project also will have positive spillover effects for Cleveland. Their findings conflict with a city-commissioned study that says the project will just shift existing spending and tax revenues within the region – and threaten the health of Downtown.
RELATED: A Browns move to Brook Park will deal an economic blow to Cleveland, study says
Haslam and his wife, Dee, who joined the meeting virtually from Tennessee, suggested that excess tax revenues from the Brook Park development could be used for long-term upkeep of the suburban stadium and to help pay for other projects, from an overhaul of Cleveland Hopkins Airport to new county buildings to remaking the lakefront. It's unclear exactly how that would work.
"This is a community that could do it all," Dee Haslam said. "We just need to work together to get it done."
Thursday’s meeting marked the first public unveiling of a financing plan that Haslam Sports Group has been quietly shopping to lawmakers and public officials for the last year.
The Browns are still asking the county 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 lobbying 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,” Jenkins said.
He said the Browns are working to find alternatives, though, if the team can’t reach a deal with the county.
Ronayne wouldn't speculate on whether the Haslams can advance their Brook Park vision without county-issued bonds.
"I can't speak for Haslam Sports Group," he said Thursday. "The popular talk about town is, if you want it, pay for it."
He’s repeatedly 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 jail and a possible consolidated courthouse on the horizon.
And Ronayne is still urging the Browns to stay Downtown.
"When I look at the two models, I see one with inflated figures that we don't see penciling out – at the risk of the taxpayers," he said of the Brook Park proposal. "And on the other hand, I see a doable-soon plan that can get into place to see football on the lake for the forseeable future."
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.
RELATED: Brook Park mayor all in on Browns stadium as long as it's a financial win for the city
Browns representatives continue to meet with Ronayne and Cleveland Mayor Justin Bibb, who broke the news in October when the Haslams 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 hassle … 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 last year – is off the table.
Their 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. They hope to finish the first phase of the mixed-use development in 2029, with about half the apartments and retail and 450 hotel rooms opening around the same time as the stadium.
The Haslams say they'd be investing more than $2 billion into the overall deal – and taking responsibility for any cost overruns on the stadium project.
They're promising thousands of jobs and a much-improved fan experience, with the lowest and closets seats in the NFL; a grand concourse; 67,500 seats for Browns games, plus space for 2,500 standing-room-only fans; and the flexibility to hold events with anywhere from 7,000 to 75,000 seats.
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.
