‘My stance from the beginning is that I’d be fine cheering on Current QB1 Kenny Pickett at either location. I just don’t want to pay for it.’
CLEVELAND — There’s a whole lot of noise surrounding the Cleveland Browns stadium situation this week, but how meaningful was all the noise, and did it change anything?
Quick recap: On Tuesday, the Haslam Sports Group released yet another statement and another snazzy looking video highlighting what they consider to be the many benefits of their proposed domed stadium/Crocker Park outdoor mall/Epcot Center in Brook Park.
On Wednesday, our elected officials chirped back. Cleveland Mayor Justin Bibb gave a statement referring to the Brook Park plan as a “scheme” that will lead to an increase in taxes. Later, Cuyahoga County Executive Chris Ronayne held a press conference where he called the plan “a risky bet with public dollars.” Both men think the stadium should remain downtown.
The audience for all of these statements and all of this pageantry is… little old us, the Browns fans. These billionaires and high-ranking officials are trying hard to win YOU over to THEIR way of thinking, because they recognize that this is an issue where public sentiment truly matters.
Cleveland cares about the Browns, arguably too much. Officeholders recognize that voters are willing to look past a lot (like the fact that Cleveland’s poverty level remains one of the highest in the nation), but if the Browns were to leave downtown again under unfavorable terms during their tenure, well, that’s the kind of thing that can cost you reelection around here.
That’s why we’re all getting this full-court PR press from both the pro-Brook Park and anti-Brook Park camps. They want you on their side.
Speaking personally, I don’t have a lot of emotional stake in whether the Browns play downtown or a couple miles from downtown, and I can genuinely see upsides to both scenarios. My stance from the beginning is that I’d be fine cheering on current QB1 Kenny Picket at either location; I just don’t want to pay for it, so I endorse whichever plan does not necessitate me to help finance the business infrastructure of one of the wealthiest men in the country, as I consider the very concept grotesque to the point obscenity.
In 2012, Jimmy Haslam purchased the Browns for roughly $1 billion. In the 13 years since, the team has massively underachieved and yet still increased in value to over $5 billion. Given that, it’s hard to justify asking me to help subsidize their upscale retail space and movable sidewalks, and the fact that the Browns feel the need to keep selling us on their plan suggests they recognize that there are some limits to what we’ll endure.
That’s likely a factor in why they’ve decided to butter up their season ticket holders on draft night by treating them to a complimentary Journey concert at Huntington Bank Field, which is a genuinely cool thing, but of course, because it’s the Browns, they booked a band with unavoidable subtext.
Much hay is being made of the fact that the Browns booked a band best known for the song “Don’t Stop Believing,” which as a Browns theme song is a little on the nose, but at least it’s a positive message. But when some people are freaked about our team moving out of downtown, I feel like the songs “Separate Ways” and “When the Lights Go Down In The City” might hit a little different for some fans at that show.
Then of course, there are the clear parallels between the Browns and the band itself: Journey is a group that was last truly relevant in the 1980s. They disbanded, then reformed in the late 1990s, maintaining the original name but with new personnel and a distinctly different (and not better) vibe.
Now, why does that sound familiar?