CLEVELAND — The Cleveland Browns started removing FirstEnergy signs from the stadium on Monday afternoon.
This comes after the team ended its naming rights agreement with FirstEnergy in April, reverting the name back to Cleveland Browns Stadium.
Prior to the agreement's end, 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."
RELATED: City Council passes resolution for FirstEnergy to remove name from Browns stadium
The Browns and FirstEnergy didn't provide any details about the agreement's dissolution.
The naming agreement ended after former Ohio House Speaker Larry Householder was found guilty of racketeering charges from bribes he received from FirstEnergy— bribes the energy company previously admitted to the year before the disgraced speaker went to trial.
Householder took bribes to push through a taxpayer-funded bailout of FirstEnergy's nuclear power plants.
In 2021, FirstEnergy agreed to pay a $230 million settlement in connection with the bribery case.
RELATED: Mayor says no general fund dollars for Cleveland Browns Stadium maintenance
The future of the Cleveland Browns Stadium came up during Mayor Justin Bibb's second State of the City address when he said the city would not pay for stadium maintenance out of the general fund.
"I'm no longer going to risk general new fund dollars for maintenance of a privately owned football franchise," Bibb said.
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