The Cleveland Browns dream of a new NFL stadium. The fact that this will be a costly undertaking is in the nature of the matter. It is all the more important for the Browns that there is now support from the state.
The Republican governor of Ohio, Mike Devine, signed a budget regulation on Tuesday that distributed funds worth $ 60 billion. 600 million of them should benefit the construction of the Browns Stadium.
The Haslam Sports Group, the owners of the Browns, had asked the state for support in order to implement a new stadium project worth $ 2.4 billion. South Cleveland, the Browns want to build a huge complex and covered stadium.
In order to refinance the money, Devine proposed, among other things, to double taxes on sports betting in Ohio. In addition to the Browns, other sports teams in Ohio could also help with these income, including the Cincinnati Bengals.
The 600 million are currently coming from a fund that is not used. These are, for example, amounts from resting bank accounts, non -redeemed checks or forgotten deposits to supply companies. These go to the state after a period of ten years. In this “pot” there are currently around five billion dollars.
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Mayor reacts upset
While the Browns themselves spoke in a statement of an “immense milestone”, the mayor of Cleveland reacted upgrade.
The reason: In the course of the budget agreement, a 30 -year -old rule was also lifted. The “Art-Modell-Act”, named after the former owner Art model, said that no professional sports team that plays in a tax-funded stadium in Ohio, without an agreement with the city in which it plays it is allowed-unless this city is informed six months in advance and is given the opportunity to buy the team. The law only applies the new wording in the signed budget if a sports team tries to move away from Ohio.
“We are deeply disappointed that the final state budget contains both a public subsidy of $ 600 million for a new stadium in Brook Park and changes to the OHIO model law,” said Mayor Justin Bibb in a statement. “The relocation of the Browns will deduct economic activities from the city center, create a competing amusement district and interrupt the dynamics of the redesign of our lake shore,” continued Bibb.