(The Center Square) – Cleveland Browns ownership confirmed it’s focusing on a $2.4 billion new domed stadium in Brook Park that includes an ask for $1.2 billion in public funds.
The explanation said Federal Aviation Administration restrictions and economic restraints would prevent the team from building a dome at Cleveland Browns stadium on the Cleveland lakefront.
Browns ownership claims the public funding will require new tax mechanisms, hinting at a tax capture around the stadium including local and state taxes.
The Haslam Sports Group is then looking at a tax capture similar to the one the Tennessee Titans plan to use to fund $1.27 billion of public funding toward the construction of a new stadium.
The Titans project includes a tax capture estimated to collect $3.1 billion over the length of the team’s 30-year lease would be used to pay off bonds on the other $727 million along with funding future maintenance and updates at the stadium along with infrastructure costs.
The Browns are also hoping for public funding for future maintenance and upgrades.
“While still in progress, our funding model also contemplates setting aside future dollars generated by the project for stadium repairs and maintenance to help ensure long-term sustainability of the building well beyond the initial lease term,” Haslam Sports Group’s Dave Jenkins said in a statement.
The team also said it believes Cleveland’s lakefront would be better without a stadium as it develops.
“Developing the lakefront without the stadium could be the best way to maximize the long-term success of our underutilized North Coast waterfront asset,” Jenkins wrote. “We continue to have dialogue with the City regarding the optimal use of the lakefront, and will remain engaged on this critical priority regardless of where the stadium is. We will also keep working with our public partners in earnest so that the stadium solution is a long-term win for everyone, including the City of Cleveland.”
