Local Politician's Secret Plan to Stop Cleveland Browns New Stadium

Local politicians are working behind the scenes to stop the construction of the new Browns stadium in Brookpark, Ohio. Stay tuned to the Ultimate Browns Show and The Ultimate Cleveland Sports Show For the latest breaking news on this controversial issue. #clevelandbrowns #ucss #clevelandbrownstoday

If you were to pick out any average Browns fan or Northeast Ohioan off the street, you'd probably get a mixed bag of answers to what's become an increasingly controversial question: What should come of Cleveland Browns Stadium?

Let the Haslams relocate to Brook Park with a $2-billion dome (with half coming from the taxpayers of Ohio, Cuyahoga County and other sources). Focus on renovating the current one to the tune of $1 billion (again, with the Haslams asking for half the tab to be picked up by the public). Forego costly renovations and instead do the best we can with the current stadium?

Last Thursday afternoon at the Cleveland Public Library a panel of experts on stadium builds and sports politics gathered for two hours to discuss the hard facts and real-world implications of those possibilities. CLEVELAND
If you were to pick out any average Browns fan or Northeast Ohioan off the street, you'd probably get a mixed bag of answers to what's become an increasingly controversial question: What should come of Cleveland Browns Stadium?

Let the Haslams relocate to Brook Park with a $2-billion dome (with half coming from the taxpayers of Ohio, Cuyahoga County and other sources). Focus on renovating the current one to the tune of $1 billion (again, with the Haslams asking for half the tab to be picked up by the public). Forego costly renovations and instead do the best we can with the current stadium?

Last Thursday afternoon at the Cleveland Public Library a panel of experts on stadium builds and sports politics gathered for two hours to discuss the hard facts and real-world implications of those possibilities.


The panel—comprised of Ward 16 Councilman Brian Kazy, former Law Director Ken Silliman, and stadium economics experts Brad Humphreys and Victor Matheson— offered lots of opinions and facts but one seemed to come with agreement: That erecting a $2.4 billion Brook Park dome and surrounding village, saying goodbye to the lakefront, would not carry the perks to Clevelanders some have been touting.

Namely, Cleveland plus Domed Stadium equals Wealthier City.

"There's zero evidence in 30 years of peer-reviewed academic research that a professional sports team in a city generates any substantial jobs, raises wages, raises income, raises property taxes," Humphreys, an economics professors at the University of Alberta, said.

"What professional sports are good at," he added, "is moving economic activity around to different parts of the city."

With Browns owners Jimmy and Dee Haslam's stadium lease with the city to end in 2028, time is closing in on a decision that's divided Clevelanders, just as it seemed to divide attendees at Thursday's panel: Ask for public dollars to bankroll a projected $1.2 billion upgrade of Cleveland Browns Stadium where it is, or use (more) public dollars to construct a $2.4 billion football neighborhood 14 miles south in Brook Park, across from the airport and where the old Ford plant once stood.

The Haslams have been vague on their intentions after it was announced, in April, they secured the rights to buy 176 acres of land east of I-71 big enough for a ballpark village to stand. The move, seen by Thursday's panelists as a chess ploy, has nevertheless prodded local politicians, from Mayor Justin Bibb to Councilman Kazy, to ensure that Cleveland doesn't lose—with some PTSD—the Browns to a southwest suburb. (Bibb has said his preference is for the Browns to stay downtown, and has argued the city has put forth what, is in their opinion, a good deal for the city and the team).)

It's what seemed to beckon Kazy, who was the face of Council's emphasis of the 1996 Art Modell Law that attempts to protect cities from billionaires seeking to pick up their team and leave, to gather three experts on stadium deals to espouse the starry-eyed Clevelander's wish for a shiny new domed mega palace. Like Nissan Stadium in Nashville. Or Jerry's World in Dallas. Or Los Angeles' behemoth that is AT&T Stadium.

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