Browns ownership proposes a 50/50 funding plan for domed stadium

In a lengthy item on the team’s website that few will read and even fewer will understand (hand raised), the Browns unveiled their proposed for funding a new domed stadium in Brook Park.

The stadium will cost $2.4 billion. Haslam Sports Group, which owns the Browns, wants the public to pay half the base amount. Private money would cover the other $1.2 billion plus any overruns.

The public money would come from the city, the county, and the state.

A separate item from Daryl Ruiter of 92.3 The Fan in Cleveland mentions something the team’s article does not. The team believes it has until June 30 to secure funding in order to break ground in the first three months of 2026.

The team’s current lease expires after the 2028 season.

Speaking to Ruiter and other reporters, Browns owner Jimmy Haslam said that, while a renovation of the team’s current stadium is possible, it’s not preferred.

“[A] renovation is much easier for us,” he said. “It takes a lot less of our money. It is a lot less headache, et cetera. I don’t think it’s the right thing to do. If I was going to be shortsighted, I could say, well 15, 20 years, that’s [the next generation’s] problem. Let them figure it out, but I don’t think that’s the right thing to do. I think the renovation is a short-term fix.”

Haslam added that the NFL has suggested that the draft would return to Cleveland and be held on the city’s lakefront if the domed stadium is built.

The project still has two impediments. First, the public mood continues to swing against giving taxpayer money to billionaires. If any of the funding plan ends up on a ballot, it will likely fail.

Second, litigation is pending regarding whether the Haslams can move the team out of Cleveland, given the terms of the Art Modell Law, which was passed after the original Browns moved to Baltimore.