“As part of our comprehensive planning efforts, we are also studying other potential stadium options in Northeast Ohio at various additional sites.”
CLEVELAND — The Cleveland Browns have announced that they are looking at additional sites in Northeast Ohio besides the downtown area for a potential new stadium.
The Cleveland Browns took to X (formerly known as Twitter) on Thursday morning to announce the news.
Below is the full statement from Cleveland Browns/Haslam Sports Group Spokesperson Peter John-Baptiste on future stadium planning:
“We’ve been clear on how complex future stadium planning can be. One certainty is our commitment to greatly improving our fan experience while also creating a transformative and lasting impact to benefit all of Northeast Ohio. We understand the magnitude of opportunity with a stadium project intent on driving more large-scale events to our region and are methodically looking at every possibility. We appreciate the collaborative process with the City of Cleveland and the leadership of Mayor Bibb in analyzing the landbridge and renovating the current stadium. At the same time, as part of our comprehensive planning efforts, we are also studying other potential stadium options in Northeast Ohio at various additional sites. There is still plenty of work to do and diligence to process before a long term stadium solution is determined and will share further updates at the appropriate time.”
The current lease for the Browns’ lakefront stadium expires in 2028.
The Browns’ comment on X comes amid a report from Ken Prendergast of NEOTrans blog that team owners Jimmy and Dee Haslam have purchased 176 acres of land in Brook Park, roughly 1,000 feet from Cleveland Hopkins International Airport.
Thursday’s news is the latest episode of the ongoing back and forth between the Browns and the city of Cleveland on the future of the stadium. The Haslams first began their push to stay downtown and develop the area around Cleveland Browns Stadium in 2021, when they first unveiled plans for a park-like land bridge over State Route 2 and the railroad tracks. The proposal called for a combination of private and public money to help pay for its funding, which was estimated to cost $230 million.
Jimmy and Dee Haslam addressed the future of the stadium on two occasions last year, in March at the NFL Owner’s Meeting and then in July as the Browns held training camp in West Virginia. On both occasions, the Haslams continued to push towards remodeling Cleveland Browns Stadium as opposed to building a new facility.
“We’re really working hard with the city, the county, and the state to work out a plan to continue to develop and remodel our stadium on the lakefront,” Dee Haslam stated in July of 2023. “We’re working through it. It’s really complex. It’s really hard. A lot of details.”
The Browns owners did not rule out the possibility of finding a location elsewhere for a new stadium. However, one thing that was made clear was the Browns are not leaving the area. “These things take time,” Jimmy Haslam added. “The only thing Dee (Haslam) and I would say for sure is we’re not leaving Northeastern Ohio. That’s for sure. Our preference is to be on the lakefront, but we’ve gotta see how things play out.”
The city of Cleveland continues to move forward with its plans to develop the lakefront. Planners provided a vision of what the land bridge and a renovated stadium could look like last October, during its “60% presentation” of the North Coast Master Plan.
This week, the Ohio House passed HB2, which would allocate $20 million for the North Coast Connector land bridge, the centerpiece of the master plan. The bill is heading to the Ohio Senate.