Browns owner Jimmy Haslam on stadium: 'The right answer is what is best for our fans'

WHITE SULPHUR SPRINGS, W.Va. — The shores of Lake Erie or the vacant sprawl in Brook Park? At some point, Browns owners Jimmy and Dee Haslam are going to have to make a final public decision on where they want dollars to be spent for the home of Cleveland's football team .

The Haslams have stated for months the decision for the future of the Browns' stadium comes down to one of two options. Either renovate Cleveland Browns Stadium , which opened in 1999 when the expansion team began play, or build a new domed stadium on a 176-acre plot of land the Haslams have an option on near Cleveland Hopkins International Airport in Brook Park.

So, which one is it going to be? The Haslams spoke Saturday following the Browns' training camp practice at The Greenbrier and were asked if they had one specific plan they were ready to take to the public, as well as to lawmakers at the city, county and state levels.

"I think we said the last time we talked to you all, this is a big project, OK," Jimmy Haslam said. "No matter which direction we go into, it's complicated. Anytime you have a public-private partnership, it's not easy. We're continuing to work through the process and we hope sooner rather than later we'll have a solution. But I can assure you, we were on the phone for an hour this morning talking about various things that have to be solved, and one solution or the other. We'll continue to do so until we get to what we think the right answer."

The Browns' lease with the city of Cleveland for the current lakefront stadium expires at the end of the 2028 season. The cost to potentially renovate the stadium has been priced at roughly $1 billion dollars.

The land the Haslams have optioned in Brook Park, which was formerly the site of two Ford Motor plants, is situated in an area bordered on three sides by State Route 237 to the west, Snow Road to the south and I-71 to the east. The Norfolk Southern railroad tracks run between the property and Ohio 237.

"If you ask what's the right answer, the right answer is what is best for our fans, OK," Jimmy Haslam said. "That is driving 90% of the decision making, what's best for our fans. These are long-, long-term decisions. This isn't a five-year decision, a 10-year decision, it's at least a 20-year decision, maybe more. So what is best for our fans will ultimately drive what we do."

The cost of a new stadium in Brook Park has been conservatively priced at $2.4 billion. However, even Jimmy Haslam acknowledges the overall plan for the development of that site could add an extra billion to the price tag.

"If we go to Brook Park, and I'm not saying we are, that's a $2.4 billion project plus the real estate development around it, which make about ($3.5 billion), that would be the third or fourth largest construction project ever done in Ohio," he said. "If we remodel our existing stadium and spend a billion dollars, that's more than Sherwin Williams is spending on their downtown office building. So just the complexity of these, getting the design right, the cost right, making sure you can finance it, how much equity it's going to take. Working with city, county and state just takes time and everybody is working hard on it."

All of that plays into the biggest question of them all, which revolves around funding the project. The more the Haslams speak, the more it sounds like bonds will be one of the primary methods of funding.

The Haslams stated a initiative on the ballot, either in this November's general election or at another time, would not be necessary. They were also asked why they wouldn't just foot the bill for the project themselves.

"That's a complicated question in that, the vast majority of these stadiums, if you read the news the last six months, are public-private partnership," Jimmy Haslam said. "We don't own the stadium, and I'll be honest, the way the financials work out in an area like Northeast Ohio, I think it needs to be a partnership. I still think the incremental revenue, and this is what everybody needs to understand, will pay for the financing.

"What the city, the county, and the state — if they choose to do so, and I don't want to be presumptuous — they're really taking our new projected revenue stream, bonding it — letting us bond it — and they're providing the financing for the project. So I think it's a good way to go. We have worked in depth with all really four entities, the cities of Cleveland and Brook Park, Cuyahoga County and the state of Ohio."

Chris Easterling can be reached at ceasterling@thebeaconjournal.com. Read more about the Browns at www.beaconjournal.com/sports/browns. Follow him on X at @ceasterlingABJ

This article originally appeared on Akron Beacon Journal: Browns owner Jimmy Haslam on stadium: 'The right answer is what is best for our fans'