The Haslam’s want a stadium deal.
Cleveland Mayor Justin Bibb wants to know by August 12th what the owners of the National Football League’s Cleveland Browns franchise, Jimmy and Dee Haslam, plan to do with the business. Will the Haslams stay in Cleveland or move to a suburban location and build a stadium-village? Bibb is willing to put up $461 million as partial funding to renovate Haslam’s present home facility. Ohio lawmakers have a general idea of how much public money it will take to make Dee and Jimmy Haslam’s dream come true for their stadium needs. It will cost at least $600 million to renovate the present Cleveland stadium next to Lake Erie or about $1.2 billion to build a domed stadium along with a village surrounding the venue in Brook Park, Ohio. The Haslam’s present 25-year-old stadium was built after then Cleveland Browns owner Art Modell took his version of the Cleveland Browns NFL franchise to Baltimore in 1995. Local Cleveland area politicians quickly cut a deal with the NFL with the promise of the NFL returning to Cleveland after a new stadium was built. The second version of the Cleveland Browns franchise took to the field in 1999. The stadium cost local taxpayers around $283 million. The Brook Park domed stadium and village could cost $2 billion. There could be a third option using land by a small Cleveland airport.
The Haslams might pay up to a billion dollars on a Brook Park facility but would need the rest of the money from local, regional and state taxpayers. It appears the Haslams are not certain which road they will pursue. Jimmy Haslam claimed he will not be moving out of northeast Ohio. The 176-acre Brook Park property used to host two Ford automobile plants. Cleveland Mayor Justin Bibb wants an answer soon because he thinks a deadline works.
Evan Weiner’s books are available at iTunes – https://books.apple.com/us/author/evan-weiner/id595575191
Evan can be reached at evan_weiner@hotmail.com
