Browns Stadium Talks Get Messy, Considering Leaving Cleveland Lakeshore

The Cleveland Browns will consider new construction on additional sites, in addition to seeking a renovation of their current home on the shore of Lake Erie, the team said in a statement on Thursday.

The Browns have been in complex negotiations with Cleveland and other governmental bodies to support a massive renovation to Cleveland Browns Stadium that would coincide with massive changes to the lakefront, including building over highways, adding parking garages, and making the area surrounding the stadium a year-round destination.

The team announced on Thursday, in a statement from spokesperson Peter John-Baptiste, that the club will now consider other areas where the team could build a brand-new stadium instead of renovating the existing property, which opened in 1999.

“We’ve been clear on how complex future stadium planning can be. One certainty is our commitment to greatly improving our fan experience while also creating a transformative and lasting impact to benefit all of Northeast Ohio. We understand the magnitude of opportunity with a stadium project intent on driving more large-scale events to our region and are methodically looking at every possibility. We appreciate the collaborative process with the City of Cleveland and the leadership of Mayor Bibb in analyzing the landbridge and renovating the current stadium. At the same time, as part of our comprehensive planning efforts, we are also studying other potential stadium options in Northeast Ohio at various additional sites. There is still plenty of work to do and diligence to process before a long term stadium solution is determined and will share further updates at the appropriate time.”

With the price tag of a new stadium estimated between $2 and $3 billion, the Browns and Cleveland had reportedly agreed to a $1 billion renovation plan back in April. But apparently that process has gotten bogged down in the details.

“There’s a lot of infrastructure that has to go into connecting downtown, which is the first thing that has to happen,” Browns owner Jimmy Haslam said at the NFL Annual Meetings last spring. “We’ve got to connect downtown to the waterfront, right? Everybody knows that. So you’ve got to relocate the highway … I do think the city, the county and the state are working together well, but there’s a lot of hoops to jump through.”

The Browns’ lease expires in 2028. A renovation of the existing stadium cannot include a dome or retractable roof, because of engineering difficulties based on the former Lake Erie shoreline landfill that the stadium is constructed atop.

The Browns have reportedly purchased a 176-acre plot, alongside Cleveland Hopkins International Airport, that would allow for the construction of a domed facility. That tract, which formerly held two Ford Motor Company plants, is in Brook Park, just outside the city limits.

“It is my understanding that we continue to have positive and productive talks with HSG/Browns,” city of Cleveland press secretary Marie Zickefoose said to NEOtrans.com. “That’s all I am aware of.”

The city being unaware that the Browns were negotiating for the purchase of property elsewhere makes it unlikely the move is being made as leverage in negotiations. At the same time as the stadium renovation talks have been ongoing, the Browns have been expanding and upgrading their practice facility in suburban Berea, Ohio, which is just to the south of Brook Park and the airport.

The Pittsburgh Steelers will likely be following just behind the Browns on terms of their stadium lease timeline with Acrisure Stadium opening two years after Cleveland Browns Stadium.

“We are going through a stadium assessment at this point and really looking at what it’s going to take to be in this stadium for the next 10, 20 years, whatever it’s going to be,” Steelers president Art Rooney II said last week. “It’s a process. We’ve hired some consultants to help us look at it. We like the stadium. We think it’s a great facility and with the right kinds of improvements, could be our home for a long time.”

Rooney said that the Steelers will not be seeking a dome or roof as part of their request for renovations.

Haslam, a Tennessee native that made his money by owning a chain of trucks stops, also owns the Columbus Crew of the MLS and a share of the Milwaukee Bucks of the NBA. Before buying the Browns in 2012, he owned a minority stake in the Steelers.