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| The Cleveland Browns will build their new stadium on the site of an old Ford manufacturing plant. |
The city of Cleveland is angry over the Dawg Pound leaving the house.
The Cleveland Browns will leave Huntington Bank Stadium in 2028. They will build a new stadium 10 miles south of the city. It will be built in Brook Park, a suburb that is a 20 minute drive down Interstate 71 and locate their new stadium near the Cleveland Hopkins International Airport.
It is located on the former Ford Motors processing facility. The Browns will also build a shopping and entertainment complex to accommodate fans.
Mayor Justin Bibb, Sen. Sherrod Brown (D-OH) and Rep. Shontel Brown (D-OH) were not pleased about the Haslam family's decision to move the team.
The team returned to Cleveland in 1999 after the original team owned by Art Modell relocated to Baltimore. The city agreed to build a new stadium for the team and a new stadium for the Cleveland Indians (now the Guardians).
The Browns starting on a losing streak have long sought for the safety of their fans.
After a rash of car break ins, the city had increased police presence and urged communities to be vigilant in preventing theft. The city was willing to build a new downtown stadium to accommodate.
The Guardians which play at Progressive Field and the Cleveland Cavaliers which play at the Rocket Mortgage Fieldhouse will remain in downtown.
Bibb says the decision by the Browns' owners comes at a real cost to downtown businesses and the city: “We’ve already commissioned an economic impact study, which estimates the negative impact of the Browns leaving at more than $30-Million a year. The development of a new facility in Brook Park will create a new competing entertainment complex that threatens the viability of existing downtown sports and convention venues that the city, county, and state have already heavily invested in public subsidies.”
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| Myles Garrett with Joe Barrow. Garrett has considered leaving the Browns. |
Dr. John Burke, a Professor of Economics at John Carroll tells 19 News that the decision, “It’s a disaster for the city of Cleveland.”
That‘s because many downtown businesses consider Browns’ football their bread and butter, “One more business that’s pulling out of Cleveland and going somewhere else,” Dr. Burke said.
Laurie Torres is the Owner of the downtown restaurant Mallorca, and she feels the move by the Browns is not just about the loss of revenue businesses will experience, “It looks bad. It looks like the team that’s been supported by the city for some years has kind of given up on the urban center.”
Joseph Valenti is the Owner of Flower Child Vintage which benefits when the Brown’s games are in town. He feels when businesses are threatened by a loss in revenue, so are their employees and that’s going to hurt, “Here’s a whole layer to the city when you see people on bikes in the morning, they’re going to their jobs, working in restaurants, cleaning hotels. There’s a whole underbelly. All those people will be affected by this decision.”
The city of Cleveland will also feel the loss in taxes paid by Browns' employees, “That payroll is now going to disappear and the income taxes on that payroll are going to disappear,” Dr. Burke said.
The new stadium estimated costs of $2.4 billion will be a domed arena to suit the Browns home games, big ticket concerts, televised WWE, UFC and WBA fights. If it suits the accommodations for seating, the NFL could decide if it can host a Super Bowl in the future.
Rep. Max Miller (R-OH) represents the area where Brook Park is located.
Bernie Moreno, the Ohio Republican senate candidate is being bankrolled by the Haslam family. Former Republican Tennessee governor Bill Haslam and Jimmy Haslam are part owners of the Browns.
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