The NFL’s Cleveland Browns are planning to leave their hometown to play at a new domed stadium in neighboring suburb of Brook Park.
“Last night, I had a meeting with Jimmy and Dee Haslam, principals of the Haslam Sports Group (HSG), in which they expressed their intent to relocate the Cleveland Browns to Brook Park,” said Cleveland Mayor Justin Bibb in a statement.
The Browns’ stadium, Huntington Bank Field, opened in 1999 and the team’s lease expires in 2028. The Bleacher Report noted that Bibb presented the team with stadium plans to keep the Browns in Cleveland, including the construction of a new venue on a portion of Burke Lakefront Airport, which is located adjacent to the current stadium.
“We put forth a fiscally responsible yet aggressive financial package—larger than any other financial package offered for a sports facility in Cleveland to renovate the existing stadium,” he said.
However, the team’s relocation is not a done deal. The Browns budgeted $2.4 billion for the new stadium, but only half of that sum would be covered by private funding. However, Cuyahoga County officials would not commit to funding a new stadium and stated a preference for keeping the Browns in Cleveland.
Photo courtesy of Cleveland Browns
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