CLEVELAND — Cuyahoga County Executive Armond Budish submitted legislation on Friday to fund a Progressive Field renovation project that would keep the Indians in Cleveland.

What You Need To Know

  • The city, county and state are considering a long-term lease agreement with the Indians

  • $19 million in public dollars per year for 15 years would go toward renovating Progressive Field

  • The deal would keep the Indians at Progressive Field through at least 2036

  • Cuyahoga County Executive Armond Budish submitted legislation Friday for the county’s portion of the arrangement

The Cuyahoga County Council will first consider the legislation on Sept. 28. The project would pitch in $9 million a year over 15 years. The legislation will get multiple hearings before the council takes a final vote. 

The deal with the Indians will also require the approval of city and state lawmakers. The agreement between the city,county and state with the Indians would include a $435 million renovation of Progressive Field. In exchange, the Indians would agree to stay at Progressive Field through 2036.

“Over 1.7 million people attend baseball games a year in Cuyahoga County, and this pumps over $300 million into our economy year after year,” said Budish, who is supportive of the agreement. “By making renovations to the ballpark, we’ll be adding even more jobs to the area and ensuring the over 4,800 people employed in and around Progressive Field can keep working.”

While the deal has the support of Budish, Gov. Mike DeWine and Cleveland Mayor Frank Jackson, when the lease agreement was announced last month, Justin Bibb and Kevin Kelley would not offer their full endorsement of the plan. Bibb and Kelley won last week’s Cleveland mayoral primary and will face each other in the November general election. 

The city and county would contribute $17 million per year combined toward the renovations while the state would add $2 million a year over the next 15 years. The Indians would pay $10 million a year, $4.5 million toward ballpark improvements.

The current lease is set to expire after the soon-to-be-renamed Indians play their 30th season in Progressive Field in 2023. The stadium is owned by Cuyahoga County.

The stadium, along with Rocket Mortgage FieldHouse which houses the Cleveland Cavs, opened in 1994 with the support of public dollars. The Indians originally signed a 20-year lease, according to the Gateway Economic Development Corporation of Greater Cleveland. The Indians later signed a 10-year lease extension through 2023.

Given that the Indians are a small-market club with an expiring lease agreement, there has been speculation around baseball that the Indians are ripe for a relocation. 

The Indians were near the bottom in the league in attendance, ranking 29th in attendance in 2014 and 2015, only ahead of the Tampa Bay Rays, according to ESPN data. After the team remodeled the stadium from 2014-16 to reduce capacity of the facility, average attendance increased by more than 4,000 fans per game from 2015 to 2019. The Indians were 21st in attendance in 2019, according to ESPN.

Relocations have been rare for baseball in recent decades. Not since the Montreal Expos moved to Washington, D.C. in 2005 has a team relocated from its market. 

Baseball also has not expanded from its current 30-team footprint since 1998. 

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