CLEVELAND — It appears Dee and Jimmy Haslam, the owners of the Browns, are prepared to meet the city of Cleveland in court over the future of the team’s stadium.

What You Need To Know

  • It appears Dee and Jimmy Haslam, the owners of the Browns, are prepared to meet the City of Cleveland in court over the future of the team’s stadium

  • In a recent letter to the Browns, Mayor Justin Bibb threatened legal action if the Haslams fail to comply with a state law that requires teams that play in taxpayer-funded facilities to give six months notice if they plan to leave and allow local investors to buy the team during that time

  • In a brief response, the team’s attorneys wrote “the Browns look forward to expeditiously resolving all of the parties’ claims in the litigation pending before the Honorable David Ruiz in the Northern District of Ohio"

  • City attorneys responded to that letter, calling the situation deeply unfortunate and going on to say, “Cleveland taxpayers have invested over $350 million in Huntington Bank Stadium and the City has been actively working to develop the city’s lakefront. The Browns (via the Haslam Sports Group) are abandoning the City just as the lakefront is experiencing unprecedented levels of new growth, violating their legal obligations in the process.”

The Haslams have been public about their desire to build a stadium with a ceiling in Brook Park, while city leaders in Cleveland fight to keep the team on the lakefront.

In a recent letter to the Browns, Mayor Justin Bibb threatened legal action if the Haslams fail to comply with a state law that requires teams that play in taxpayer-funded facilities to give six months notice if they plan to leave and allow local investors to buy the team during that time.  

In a brief response, the team’s attorneys wrote “the Browns look forward to expeditiously resolving all of the parties’ claims in the litigation pending before the Honorable David Ruiz in the Northern District of Ohio.”

In other words, “see you in court.” 

City attorneys responded to that letter, calling the situation deeply unfortunate and going on to say, “Cleveland taxpayers have invested over $350 million in Huntington Bank Stadium and the City has been actively working to develop the city’s lakefront. The Browns (via the Haslam Sports Group) are abandoning the City just as the lakefront is experiencing unprecedented levels of new growth, violating their legal obligations in the process.”

Even if the Haslams win this lawsuit, it remains unclear how they would fund the $2.4 billion stadium and entertainment complex in the city of Brook Park.

They’ve asked local government to contribute a total of $1.2 billion in public funding toward the project. 

Cuyahoga County Executive Chris Ronayne said he wants the Browns to stay downtown, and that it would be fiscally irresponsible to provide the $600 million dollars that the Browns are seeking from the county.

“It's a bridge very far for the county to participate at the level that the Browns have asked of us,” Ronayne said. “I wouldn't want speak to for the state, but I wonder that of the state of Ohio. Taxpayers are being asked to foot the bill on a fairly large public expenditure for the Browns.”

Ronayne has long supported Mayor Bibb’s vision to keep the stadium in Cleveland and transform the city’s lakefront. A downtown stadium renovation would be about half the cost of the new build in Brook Park, and Bibb offered $461 million in city funding toward that project.

Regardless of that offer, the Haslams are focusing their efforts on Brook Park, now willing to go to court to get what they want.

Spectrum News 1 made multiple requests to the Browns for comment, but didn’t hear back. 

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