Dawgs By Nature
County officials call on County Executive Chris Ronayne to give up the fight to keep the Browns in Cleveland.
Cleveland Browns owners Jimmy and Dee Haslam have spent the past year making it clear where they expect to be playing home games beginning in 2029.
In a $2.4 billion domed stadium located in the Cleveland suburb of Brook Park.
Ever since the news broke in February 2024 that the Haslams were ready to join other NFL owners with a new stadium and adjacent entertainment and business complex, they have worked to secure the appropriate land and line up the required funding.
Half the amount for the stadium is coming from the private sector, but the remaining $1.2 billion is coming from a mix of local, county, and state dollars.
Brook Park has given little to no opposition to the idea of providing $422 million for the project, with the money coming from financed bonds. Ohio legislators approved $600 million last week for the project and are just waiting for Governor Mike DeWine to sign the state budget to make it official.
The lone holdout has been Cuyahoga County, where County Executive Chris Ronayne has been steadfast in his opposition to providing $178 million for the Browns to leave downtown Cleveland, the team’s home since 1946.
While Ronayne has fought the good fight, he may be on his last legs after County Council members injected a dose of reality into the conversation during this week’s Economic Development and Planning Committee meeting.
That message? The Browns are moving, and it would be best for the county to get on board.
That is according to Councilwoman Sunny Simon, vice chair of the County Planning Commission, who is ready for the county to start focusing on what the project will mean to the county, according to cleveland.com:
“Whether we like it or not, it’s happening. I understand the position of the executive is he only wants it downtown, but here we are; they’re going to Brook Park. I want to see how that’s going to impact the county financially and if it makes sense for council to consider any kind of participation because we give out loans, we do all kinds of things for projects, why not this?”
Simon is not ready to cut the check just yet, but is advocating for the county to conduct its own review to determine how the move will impact the county’s bottom line, create jobs, and spur additional development, all of which the Browns have claimed in their own commissioned study.
Every day, the Browns get closer to breaking ground on the new stadium, and as soon as DeWine signs the state budget, it will be almost a lock to happen.
He may not like it, but it is time for Ronayne to listen to his colleagues, get on board, and start focusing on how the project can help the entire region, rather than just on how it might impact downtown Cleveland.
