The City of Cleveland has filed a lawsuit to stop its NFL team from moving out when the lease on its lakefront stadium expires in 2028.
The Associated Press reports Jimmy and Dee Haslam, the owners of the Cleveland Browns, plan to build a $2.4 billion stadium and adjacent entertainment complex in Brook Park, a suburban city 15 miles south of the Cleveland. In its lawsuit filed in in the Cuyahoga County Common Pleas Court, the city argued the Browns would be in violation of the local Modell Law that prevents professional sports teams using state funding for their facility for home games from leaving without permission or advance notice – the law was named after Art Modell, the team’s late owner who moved the franchise to Baltimore after failing to gain public funds for a new stadium.
The law, which passed in 1996, also enables Cleveland residents with the opportunity to either purchase the or find a new buyer. The city’s lawsuit claims the Brown did neither, thus running afoul of the law.
The city offered the Browns $461 million to help with renovations to their current 65,000-seat stadium, which opened in 1999. The Browns budgeted $2.4 billion for the new stadium but stated that only half of that sum would be covered by private funding.
The Browns did not publicly comment on the lawsuit.
