Browns sued by Cleveland over proposed move​on January 15, 2025 at 11:05 pm

The city of Cleveland has filed a lawsuit to stop the Browns from leaving their lakefront stadium and building a domed stadium in suburban Brook Park.

The suit, filed Tuesday in Cuyahoga County, Ohio, seeks to invoke the “Modell Law” to stop the Browns from moving. The state law says any professional sports owner who uses a tax-supported facility for home games and gets funding from the state or a political subdivision can’t leave unless it gets permission to play elsewhere or gives six months’ notice.

In October, the Browns announced they informed the city of their intentions to build a $2.4 billion state-of-the-art stadium and entertainment complex in Brook Park — which is in the same county but 15 miles south of Cleveland — when their stadium lease with the city expires at the end of the 2028 NFL season.

Browns owners Dee and Jimmy Haslam have been seeking a 50-50 private/public partnership for the construction of the stadium. The Haslams said in a statement that the intended move was the result of trying to “find the optimal long-term solution for our stadium.”

The Browns also filed a lawsuit in October seeking clarification on the Modell Law. The state law, which was passed in 1996, was used in 2019 to prevent the Columbus Crew of Major League Soccer from leaving for Texas. The team stayed and was bought by the Haslams, who are also part owners of the NBA’s Milwaukee Bucks.

The suit filed by city of Cleveland says that “The Modell Law’s requirements are straightforward. It provides that if a team takes taxpayer money and plays in a tax-supported facility, then the owner must either obtain the City’s authorization or give the City and others the opportunity to purchase the team before moving the team away from that facility.”

In early August, the city of Cleveland offered the Browns a $1.2 billion proposal to renovate the Huntington Bank Field — the team’s current 65,000-seat stadium — and redevelop its surrounding property that would have included $461 million from the city. The city also offered a 30-year extension of the team’s lease.

The Browns have played on the shores of Lake Erie since their inception in 1946. Their new stadium was built in 1999, when they returned as an expansion franchise.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.