The Haslam Sports Group (HSG) wants to have shovels in the ground about a year from now so a proposed domed stadium in Brook Park will be ready when the Browns open their 2029 season.
Cleveland city officials, since October 22 of last year, have tried to use the “Modell Law” to prevent the Browns from leaving their current downtown stadium when their lease on it expires after the 2028 season.
HSG on Oct. 24 filed a lawsuit in federal court asking for clarification on the Modell Law. HSG, which has owned the Browns since 2012, was back in federal court March 18 to submit an amended brief “challenging the city’s baseless assertions,” quoting from a news release at clevelandbrowns.com.
The timing of releasing a snazzy video of what the $3.4 billion complex will look like when it is completed coincided with the filing of the amended brief. The complex would be built on 176 acres of land near Cleveland Hopkins International Airport. HSG owns the rights to the land.
A new, world-class enclosed stadium the Dawg Pound deserves pic.twitter.com/eviU8oAse0
— Cleveland Browns (@Browns) March 18, 2025
The Ohio legislature crafted and passed the Modell Law in June 1996 after former Browns owner Art Modell moved his franchise to Baltimore earlier the same year. The current Browns began play as an expansion team in 1999 in what is now Huntington Bank Field.
The purpose of the Modell Law was to prevent another owner from relocating its team without meeting specific qualifications.
The law reads:
“No owner of a professional sports team that uses a tax-supported facility for most of its home games and receives financial assistance from the state or a political subdivision thereof shall cease playing most of its home games at the facility and begin playing most of its home games elsewhere” unless “an agreement with the political subdivision permitting the team to play most of its home games elsewhere” is reached and, if an agreement isn’t reached, the political subdivision would get six months to give “any individual or group of individuals who reside in the area the opportunity to purchase the team.”
The Browns are not for sale.
HSG maintains moving the Browns to suburban Brook Park does not violate the law.
“The city has never explained how the Modell Law could sensibly apply to the Browns, who will continue to play games in its stadium until the expiration of its lease, and whose owners have committed to keeping the team in the local area long after the lease expires,” HSG attorney Ted Tywang said in the news release. “Our actions in court are intended to ensure that the city’s irresponsible and baseless attempt to apply the Modell Law to the Browns does not slow our momentum to build a world-class stadium right here in Northeast Ohio for the Browns, our fans and the entire region.”
Haslam Sports Group is committed to paying $1.2 billion of the $2.4 billion portion for the stadium project. The other $1.2 billion would come from Brook Park, Cuyahoga County and state revenues. The $1 billion for the surrounding hotels, retail, restaurants and office space would be privately funded. HSG would be responsible for stadium cost overruns, according to the news release on clevelandbrowns.com.
“The Cleveland Browns and our community need and deserve a new home – and from the outset we have been unequivocal that it must positively benefit our community and Northeast Ohio,” Browns owners Dee and Jimmy Haslam said in a statement. “The proposed Huntington Bank Field in Brook Park meets this vital objective and will reflect positively on our world-class region and its promising future. It also reflects our 100% commitment to keeping the Browns in their home market for generations to come.”
