Co-owner of the Cleveland Browns, Dee Haslam, stated on the record in 2019 that the Browns wanted a new football stadium. She was vague, but she gave the City of Cleveland a 10 year head start on getting the project done. The Browns' lease ends in 2028.
Former Mayor of Cleveland, Frank Jackson, moved his lips, but said nothing of consequence in regards to a new Browns Stadium before he stepped away from office in 2021.
Editor's Note: We were NOT Frank Jackson fans.
When Community Activist Justin Bibb was elected Mayor, the new Browns Stadium had to be the first agenda item sitting on top of his desk for the new term. He set that project aside.
Then, in 2023, things really started to percolate. Jimmy Haslam spent about a billion dollars...and bought a minority stake in the Milwaukee Bucks. The writers at cleveland.com, who are very team-friendly, reported the sale, but added no commentary, fearing the appearance of upsetting Jimmy Haslam. Yet a number of bloggers mentioned that the Haslams could have built their own stadium with that money.
Blogger Fred did not pick the low-hanging fruit. He re-iterated his belief (Jimmy Haslam is Lying), first stated in 2020, that Carpetbagger Jimmy wants to move the Cleveland Browns. The Haslams attitude, from the beginning, has been: What can Cleveland do for us? That is not Cleveland's attitude toward the Browns.
In 2024, the Haslams stated, on the record, that they were eyeing a neighboring parcel of land in Brook Park, Ohio. The media went crazy, but many football fans, who live in the suburbs, didn't care. If you stand at the Harley Davidson Dealership on W. 150th in Brook Park, and faced North, you would be able to hit the City of Cleveland with a rock. Yes, the cities share about a 3 mile border.
What are we arguing about here then? Who pays the tab.
Very quietly, just last week, Mayor Bibb announced that he was going to spend a billion dollars...on community development. The curious part of the announcement was one of the partners.
Dan Gilbert is the owner of Bedrock, the development firm charged with restoring Cleveland's downtown, lakefront, and immediate neighborhoods. If the name Dan Gilbert sounds familiar to you, it's because he owns the Cleveland Cavaliers (NBA), the Cleveland Charge (G League), and the Cleveland Monsters (AHL). That's over a 100 home games a year that Gilbert hosts for Cleveland.
If Dan Gilbert develops the community and then the community supports Gilbert's professional teams, it's really a win-win for both Bibb and Gilbert. It's the definition of a symbiotic relationship.
But here's where things get tricky. Haslam wants the city to pay for a new stadium AND urban development around the stadium. If Haslam moves to Brook Park, the land where he currently sits in Cleveland is worth $100 million, easily, maybe even triple that. Urban development would actually be ADVANCED if he moved.
Editor's Note II:
You see that picture? That's the background to the Beacon of Speech Homepage.
Let me tell you the story of that photo. My in-laws live in Brook Park, Ohio and as they tore down 2 of the 3 Ford Factories at the edge of town, I wondered what would happen to those high paying industrial jobs? When we started Beacon of Speech in 2016, our angle was that we were living in a post-industrial landscape and the twisted metal wreckage was a perfect visual representation of what we wanted to stand for.
Since my sister was a nature photographer, I made her take some pictures of the demolition site. I wish I took a picture of her, taking the picture. She was standing under a giant sign that read: NO PICTURES. She asked if what we were doing was legal, I said, "yeah, it's okay, we're citizen journalists."
Anyways, that's where the Haslams are proposing to build the new stadium. At the symbolic home of Beacon of Speech.
Why hasn't the Brook Park site been developed in the last decade? Because the rumor is that the soil is contaminated with heavy metals.
I'm not sure that's the case. If you go over to the Brook Park home page:
A: Cleveland Hopkins Airport
B: Potential Browns Stadium Site
C: The In-Laws
The potential Browns Stadium Site is still zoned Industrial. I'm not sure who the city was trying to target to replace Ford, but by not having the land re-zoned, it really limited the options of any new occupants.
In theory, Brook Park could have re-zoned the land as residential, but who wants to live in the shadow of the airport and at the end of multiple runways?
But with an airport and easily accessed adjacent highways, the new Browns Stadium would have exactly what the NFL wants, and that's a regional, not local, footprint.
Earlier this weekend, the City of Cleveland pitched a half-a-billion dollars in renovations to Browns Stadium. That was going to be rejected as soon as it was pitched. Jimmy Haslam wants a Billion Dollar Stadium. The proposed renovations were nothing more than a publicity stunt.
Justin Bibb is daring the Browns to leave Cleveland, without saying he dares them to leave Cleveland. (Because that would be a PR nightmare).
Which returns us to Brook Park. Tiny Brook Park isn't offering a Billion Dollar Stadium, they are offering the land for a Billion Dollar Stadium. Big difference. Again, where would the money come from in a Brook Park versus the City of Cleveland show down? Jimmy Haslam is betting that either Cuyahoga County, the 5 County Region around Cleveland, or the State of Ohio will come up with the funds.
I have heard of a possible County Sales Tax. (That won't work, good luck getting the voters to go for that.)
I have heard of a possible Regional Sales Tax. (That won't work, either.)
"Everyone" wants the Billion Dollar Stadium, no one wants to pay for the Billion Dollar Stadium.
For a rational human being, $500 million in upgrades to a 25 year old stadium would seem like a fair deal, but we are not talking about the average citizen, we are talking about billionaire Jimmy Haslam.
Jimmy Haslam's peer group is other owners, and other owners are all getting Billion Dollar Playgrounds.
Which brings us to the bottom line. Some time in the next year, Roger Goodell will accuse Justin Bibb and the City of Cleveland of bargaining in bad faith.
How do I know this? From Beacon of Speech in 2022: "Browns Owner Jimmy Haslam asked for a billion dollar stadium this week. I think he should be removed as owner of the team. Roger Goodell is not paid to protect the team, the City of Cleveland, or the fans, HIS JOB IS TO PROTECT JIMMY HASLAM. Haslam could move the team and not face ramifications for his actions from the league. IT HAS HAPPENED BEFORE."
Goodell will take the bullet for Haslam and say if Cleveland can't get a deal done, then Haslam could negotiate with places like San Antonio, Salt Lake City, or Toronto. That way it forces the local government's hand. Roger Goodell is paid $64 million a year for just such an occasion. Goodell will frame it as Jimmy Haslam wants to stay in Cleveland, but mean Justin Bibb just won't play ball.
But if I was defending Justin Bibb in a court of law, I would say that between the Guardians, Cavs, Charge and Monsters, there are about 150 home games a year in Cleveland. Simple math says that's a game every 2+ days. The Browns contribute only 10 home dates a year, and 90% of those fans don't live in Cleveland proper. At that point, I would argue that Bibb is fundamentally correct in not spending a billion dollars on the equivalent of a weekend tourist attraction.
We all know though, that the Browns are more than a local tourist attraction. That's why someone in Ohio will blink. The billion dollar question is: How much is that lakefront view worth to Jimmy Haslam?
If I had to bet money, I'd say that some regional authority will come up with the money for the Brook Park Plan. There's no way the Browns would leave the Cleveland area again, right?
RIGHT?
And I haven't even mentioned the Cincinnati Bengals, whose lease is up in 2026. Paul Brown Stadium is the same age as Cleveland Stadium.
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