All kinds of reactions this weekend to the Cleveland Browns owners Jimmy and Dee Haslam’s announcement that they plan to build a $2.4 billion stadium in Brook Park that they haven’t figured out how to pay for:
- Cleveland Mayor Justin Bibb claims losing the Browns to the suburbs will cost the city $30 million a year — in tax revenue? economic activity? he didn’t say — according to “an economic impact study” the city commissioned (which Bibb evidently forgot to attach to his press statement). This is probably clown economics, depending on what it even means, and it seems weird for Bibb to be trying to make the Haslams’ case that their team’s presence is worth a lot, though it’s also possible he’s trying to talk the state of Ohio into not funding the team’s move to Brook Park. More on this if that study ever turns up and if the crayon is legible.
- Ohio Sen. Sherrod Brown issued a press statement saying, “Overwhelmingly, people want them to stay in Cleveland but greedy billionaire sports owners think they can do whatever they want” and calling on the Haslams to keep the team in Cleveland. He did not, it appears, call on state officials not to provide public funding for moving the Browns to Brook Park, something the Haslams have said they want to the tune of at least $1.2 billion.
- Some fans love the proposed move (“it’s great”), other fans hate it (“We’re the Cleveland Browns not Brook Park Browns”), still other fans have mixed feelings (“I like the fact that we’re getting a dome. I hate that it’s moving out”). Apparently if you ask enough different people a question you’ll get different answers!
- Chuck D remarked, “Why revisit the Richfield Coliseum nightmare that you had?” and “What the fuck?” before asking music reporters at the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame induction of Kool & The Gang if they wanted to talk about LeBron James, which no one did.
Brook Park Mayor Ed Orcutt, meanwhile, said the stadium deal is at “at the 50-yard line” and that “we still have to bring people to the table” including county executive Chris Ronayne, who previously said he’s not interested in helping the Browns move out of Cleveland. Asked if this means the project will be more difficult to finalize than people think, Orcutt replied, “Well, in politics sometimes we have differences of opinion, or even if you’re just having a conversation over an adult beverage, hanging out and watching some sports.” (For those who don’t speak fluent Mayor, that’s a yes.)
As much as it’s easy for TV stations to send its reporters out to ask random Browns fans what they think of the dome plan, the only thing that really matters here is how state and county officials plan to handle the Haslams’ $1.2 billion tax kickback request, and nobody is covering that yet. No one particularly thinks that Gov. Mike DeWine is going to pull a JB Pritzker and tell the Haslams that the taxpayer cash bank is closed, but it would be nice to know what position he and other elected officials have on that $1.2 billion subsidy request. Hey, Ohio journalists, there’s a scoop just waiting for you, get at it!
And why does it matter to Sen. Brown where the team plays, as long as it’s in Ohio? He should be staying far away from this mess.
Sen. Brown is expressing what every voter thinks, that tax money should not be used to build the stadium. Not using public funds for a stadium is a popular opinion among voters.
He’s up for re-election. He needs high turnout in Cuyahoga (the bluest county in the state) to win.
I’m not sure what exactly was wrong with the current stadium in the first place, aside from the fact that the now-injured disgrace merchant of a quarterback has (had?) been playing home games there.
I visited last November from the Phoenix area to see the Cardinals and Browns play and like you said there’s nothing wrong with the stadium. It was actually nice to watch a sporting event outdoors and the location of the stadium right on Lake Erie makes for an interesting setting. The NFL is turning into the arena football league with all these domes. Part of the lore of the NFL is games like the Ice Bowl and windy conditions in Chicago impacting games. Domes make everything too sterile.
I’ve been to over 100 games in that stadium. Its a monument to the city’s poor planning and foresight. The agreement to build the stadium was made in February 1996 and it opened in August 1999. Three and a half years to approve the deal, and then design and build the stadium resulted in an absolute dump.
Having open corners when you’re surrounded by the lake on 3 sides causes brutal winds and it makes December games absolutely miserable. You have cramped concourses, limited concession options and restrooms so you have longlines for everything.
Wasn’t it also designed without the team having an owner or any management in place? The timetable made it where the city just built this basic thing as quickly as possible. I’ve been there once, very meh, at this point it’s probably one of the worst NFL stadiums.
Up until February 1996 the city was pitching a proposal to renovate the old stadium. They made the deal with the NFL to drop their opposition to the old team moving in exchange for a new team in 1999. At that point it could have been either a relocated team that becomes the Browns or an expansion team.
Ground broke on the new stadium in 1997, it wasn’t until 1998 that it was decide an expansion team would be awarded and the ownership was decided in September 1998. The stadium didn’t even have escalators its first year, thats how much they were cutting corners.
When they built the current stadium there on the lakefront, shortly thereafter people were complaining they put a stadium (that is used maybe a dozen times a year) on prime lakefront property. And how the stadium was rushed, etc. etc. Now, that the Haslams want to put a new stadium in Brook Park, and open up that lakefront land for other development, people are freaking out and saying the Browns should stay on the lakefront in their current stadium (with some kind of renovation that will most likely not resolve the issues raised above by @aquib).
Clevelanders love to complain. They complain about snow. They complain about heat.
Hey, take it easy on the Haslams!
Those $92,000,000 Criminal Enforcement Agreements won’t pay themselves, people!
Why should the average Joe have to help pay. He didn’t seem to have a problem with giving Watson an outrageous contract. The average fan right now can’t afford to attend a game. I can only imagine what the price of a ticket will cost once it’s done. He’s going to have to recoup his money someway.
https://fox2now-com.cdn.ampproject.org/v/s/fox2now.com/news/missouri/lawsuit-filed-after-la-rams-attempt-to-buy-former-earth-city-facility-for-1/amp/?amp_js_v=0.1&_gsa=1#webview=1
Late former Senator Tom Eagleton of MO wrote the option for the Rams to buy their Earth City MO practice site for $1 after the 30-year lease on the downtown St Louis dome expired (which would have been after this season). Now the Rams, though long in L.A., want to exercise that option. Don’t know what is worse: The owners or the politicians in some level of cahoots with them.
One might say that this is karma: A gift of free land that was offered to help Missouri steal the Rams from LA is biting them in the butt now that the Rams have returned to LA.