CLEVELAND — The City of Cleveland announced the team will move to Brook Park in 2027 after officials attempted to convince the team to stay in the downtown area.

The announcement was made at a press conference by Mayor Justin Bibb.

“The Haslams choice to move the team away from the city is frustrating and profoundly disheartening,” Bibb said. “Over the past three years this administration made relentless efforts to craft solutions that advance HSG’s (Haslam Sports Group) objectives and long-term interest of our residents and the broader community.”

Bibb said the stadium was his most important priority, but one he would not compromise in his role as mayor. He said his priorities were the needs of the businesses and residents.

“Haslam Sports Group may want a roof over their heads, but it is my responsibility as mayor of this great city to ensure Cleveland residents have a roof over theirs,” Bibb said.

He said there is an expected $30 million annual loss in economic impact on the city with the team leaving.

“Like many urban cities, we are still recovering from the COVID-19 pandemic and the rise of remote work,” Bibb said. “It would move jobs, development and access from the urban core.”

Bibb said the city had exhausted every option without compromising values.

The proposed domed complex in Brook Park, which is about 15 miles south of Cleveland, has a cost of $2.4 billion.

In a statement from the Haslams, they said they’ve had a positive dialogue with the mayor and his staff for the last two years with this planning process, which they said actually began back in 2017.

They were initially looking at a stadium renovation.

“We’ve learned through our exhaustive work that renovating our current stadium will simply not solve many operational issues and would be a short-term approach,” their statement reads. “With more time to reflect, we have also realized that without a dome, we will not attract the type of large-scale events and year-round activity to justify the magnitude of this public-private partnership. The transformational economic opportunities created by a dome far outweigh what a renovated stadium could produce with around ten events per year.”

They also worked with the city and county to consider building a domed facility on what is currently the Burke Lakefront Airport. However, they said they found this was “cost prohibitive and not feasible” and that there is no definitive timing on the airport’s closure.

County Executive Chris Ronayne said in a statement Thursday that he, “has made his position clear: the Browns stadium should remain Downtown. Today he is focused on the business of Cuyahoga County and cheering for a Guardians win tonight.”

Cleveland Ward 16 Councilman Brian Kazy also issued a statement after the mayor’s announcement, calling the Haslam’s decision disappointing.

“With the Haslams, it’s all about feeding at the public trough,” his statement read, in part. “The ownership is not from Cleveland and clearly does not understand the tradition of the team they own or the needs of one of the poorest cities in America. If they did, they would not be asking this community to commit hundreds of millions, if not billions, to build a stadium when we have a functioning stadium and so many other needs. It’s disappointing that the Haslams are looking to pit City against City to fleece taxpayers out of money to build a shiny new fortress.”

Democratic Senator Sherrod Brown also released a statement to address the Haslams and the stadium move.

“The Cleveland Browns should be in Cleveland, no matter what some rich owner thinks,” Brown said in his statement. “As a proud Clevelander, I call on the Haslam family to keep the Browns in Cleveland and encourage my opponent, whose campaign is being funded by the Haslams, to do the same.”  

Funding for the new stadium remains an obstacle. The Browns are seeking a public/private partnership for the $2.4 billion project. They’re proposing bonds to cover the public portion.

“With the funding mechanisms we continue to work on, this stadium will not use existing taxpayer-funded streams that would divert resources from other more pressing needs,” the Haslam’s statement reads. “Instead, the over $2 billion private investment, together with the public investment, will create a major economic development project that will drive the activity necessary to pay the public bond debt service through future project-generated and Browns-generated revenue.”

The Haslams also claim that moving the team to Brook Park with a dome stadium will not only help the state economically, but also will provide an opportunity for the city to realize their vision for the lakefront.

“Cleveland and Northeast Ohio are the fabric of the Browns, and that will always be the case. Our community commitment to Cleveland and efforts to improve the lives of its residents will not change,” their statement reads.

Cuyahoga County officials, in August, sent a letter to Browns owners Dee and Jimmy Haslam saying that they backed a $461 million renovation proposal to the current stadium downtown.

In his letter to the Haslams, Bibb said the city would commit to a competitive lease arrangement for the current stadium on Lake Erie for the next 30 years.

“We are unified in our belief that transforming the current facility is unquestionably in the best interests of Cleveland and Cuyahoga County,” Bibb said in his letter. “We do not believe any public financial support should responsibly be made available for development of a stadium outside of the City of Cleveland.”

The current Browns stadium, recently renamed Huntington Bank Field, was built in 1999 and features 65,000 seats.

The Associated Press contributed to this article.