‘The Haslams need to raise your taxes, make it more expensive for you to attend games, and steal events away from downtown Cleveland to pay for their stadium.’
CLEVELAND — Just a day after the Browns said city leaders were “misguiding” the community about their domed stadium project in Brook Park, Cleveland Mayor Justin Bibb responded with a sharp rebuke.
In a statement released Wednesday, Bibb accused the Haslam Sports Group (HSG), the ownership group of the Browns, of making “misleading statements” about the work his administration has done over the last three years to revitalize the lakefront and keep the team at its current location.
On Tuesday, HSG sent out a long letter to the team’s fans, along with a press release announcing that it had submitted “an amended complaint in its federal suit, challenging the city’s baseless assertions.”
Last month, the Browns shared details of their plan to finance the $3.4 billion economic development project, which features a $2.4 billion domed stadium along with a mixed-use development.
Team owners Jimmy and Dee Haslam, along with their development partners, have committed to invest more than $2 billion in private capital. The state of Ohio would be asked to issue $600 million in bonds that would be paid back by tax revenues, while the city of Brook Park and Cuyahoga County would be asked for an additional $600 million in bonds to be covered by an increased admissions tax, parking tax, bed tax and rental car surcharge.
In his response, Bibb referred to the HSG domed stadium plan as a “scheme” that “pays for itself on the backs of fans. The Haslams need to raise your taxes, make it more expensive for you to attend games, and steal events away from downtown Cleveland to pay for their stadium. The Haslam stadium ploy raises more questions than it answers and makes wild assumptions that will crush taxpayers. Their scheme relies on average ticket prices nearing $700, parking rates north of $100, increasing taxes for hotels, parking, and rental cars, and the assumption thousands of people will pay high rent to live in luxury apartments in the shadow of the airport.”
THE LAKEFRONT BATTLE
Bibb also expressed his frustration at the Browns for stating in March of 2023 that they were committed to playing at a transformed lakefront stadium.
“Cleveland would benefit tremendously from the development of the waterfront,” Jimmy Haslam said in 2023. “Having the stadium down there seems to be in everybody’s best interest, so we’re committed to redoing the stadium. In all likelihood, it’s not going to have a dome, but it’ll be a substantial remodel of the existing facility, and we’re probably three, four, five years away from that happening.”
Over the past three years, Bibb says his administration has raised “an unprecedented $150 million for the lakefront, completed a lakefront master plan, created a waterfront development authority, and established new economic development tools to raise hundreds of millions more.”
“It is disingenuous and insulting to say — as the Haslams do in their recent federal court filing — that the city doesn’t have a competitive plan for the lakefront,” Bibb added.
In March of 2024, the Haslams announced that they were down to two options when it comes to their future stadium site: A $1 billion renovation to the existing downtown stadium, or a domed stadium outside of the city at double the cost. Word soon spread that the Haslams had optioned more than 170 acres of land in Brook Park near Cleveland Hopkins International Airport.
On Aug. 1, in what the city called “a competitive deal to retain the Browns at their current stadium site,” Bibb put forth a $461 million financing proposal to the Haslams to renovate the 25-year-old facility. The plan included a 30-year lease arrangement.
Six days later, the Haslam Sports Group unveiled renderings and video showcasing what a domed stadium complex in Brook Park would look like. On Oct. 17, the Browns confirmed their plans to move to Brook Park, arguing that renovating the current stadium would not solve long-term issues and that a domed stadium would allow them to host big events year-round and generate more revenue in the region.
In a press conference that same day, Bibb expressed his deep disappointment in the Haslam Sports Group’s decision, calling the team’s choice “frustrating and profoundly disheartening.”
“We have exhausted every single option to keep the browns in our city without compromising the general revenue of our city,” Bibb said during a press conference. “We remain committed to doing what we can to keep the Browns in Cleveland if Brook Park is not viable.”
One week after the announcement, the Browns filed a federal lawsuit asking a judge to declare the so-called “Art Modell Law,” which requires any Ohio team playing in a tax-supported facility to give the city or locals the chance to buy the team, unconstitutional. Ohio Attorney General Dave Yost later filed a motion to intervene on the city’s behalf, which was granted. More recently, Yost and the city of Cleveland each filed motions seeking to overturn the Browns’ lawsuit.
“We have offered a viable proposal to keep the Browns playing on the lakefront in a reimagined stadium as the centerpiece of a huge lakefront development — for half the cost to the public of the dome in Brook Park. We have invested hundreds of millions in downtown Cleveland. The Haslam Brook Park scheme will burden taxpayers and damage downtown to benefit billionaires,” Bibb added in his Wednesday statement.
BIBB’S FULL STATEMENT:
The Haslams yesterday made misleading statements about the diligent work the city has done over the past three years to revitalize the lakefront, protect taxpayer dollars, and keep football on the lakefront. They want to squander taxpayer dollars to invest over a billion dollars into a domed stadium in Brook Park while openly violating state law.
The City of Cleveland offered nearly half a billion dollars to keep the Browns in the city, based on the Haslams’ original request for a transformed lakefront stadium – a plan they publicly committed to just two years ago. It is disingenuous and insulting to say – as the Haslams do in their recent federal court filing – that the city doesn’t have a competitive plan for the lakefront. In three years, we have raised an unprecedented $150 million for the lakefront, completed a lakefront master plan, created a waterfront development authority, and established new economic development tools to raise hundreds of millions more. The Haslam’s refusal to release their lakefront stadium transformation plan publicly is an affront to taxpayers.
The Haslam scheme pays for itself on the backs of fans. The Haslams need to raise your taxes, make it more expensive for you to attend games, and steal events away from downtown Cleveland to pay for their stadium. The Haslam stadium ploy raises more questions than it answers and makes wild assumptions that will crush taxpayers. Their scheme relies on average ticket prices nearing $700, parking rates north of $100, increasing taxes for hotels, parking, and rental cars, and the assumption thousands of people will pay high rent to live in luxury apartments in the shadow of the airport.
We have offered a viable proposal to keep the Browns playing on the lakefront in a reimagined stadium as the centerpiece of a huge lakefront development – for half the cost to the public of the dome in Brook Park. We have invested hundreds of millions in downtown Cleveland. The Haslam Brook Park scheme will burden taxpayers and damage downtown to benefit billionaires.