Why Is the City of Cleveland Suing the Browns?

Will the Browns depart for Brook Park stadium from Cleveland amid legal action? Seemingly, the city of Cleveland is pursuing legal action over the Cleveland Browns’ stadium’s heated issue. Haslam Sports Group appears to be at a crossroads.

Recently, they confirmed the city of Cleveland about their leaving for a new domed stadium in suburban Brook Park. Since then, the battle over the new Browns stadium has persisted. Amidst all this, MLF football also took to their Twitter handle to share an update on the ongoing saga of Browns stadium.

Along with sharing the picture of Brown’s home stadium in Cleveland, they confirmed the news.  “BREAKING: The City of Cleveland plans to SUE the #Browns to prevent them from moving away and building a dome,” they mentioned in their post caption.

It is clear now. The City of Cleveland is all set to take legal action to prevent the team’s possible departure. They are taking this stand after the former mayor, Dennis Kucinich filed an official taxpayer’s demand.

Recently, Kucinich demanded the City take legal action to block the team from leaving. “I am hereby formally filing a taxpayer’s demand,” Dennis wrote.

Surprisingly, his complaint came after Cleveland Mayor Justin Bibb’s announcement. He said that the Browns would depart Downtown for a new domed stadium in Brook Park. Now, it appears like a judicial case is already established, which may block the team from moving away.

Reportedly, Mayor Justin called a press conference over the same issue on Tuesday night. And, he also expressed his annoyance at the  Cleveland Browns owner, Jimmy Haslam. The US  businessman broke the news to the public during a press conference.

The mayor added pointing out that we all must be practical regarding our many “needs and resources.” He asserted, “The city’s approach has always been rooted in fiscal responsibility and the long-term value for all members of our community. As such, I am deeply, deeply disappointed that our exhaustive efforts, the Haslam Sports Group has chosen to pursue a move to Brook Park.”

On the other hand, Cleveland Browns’ owners, Dee and Jimmy released a statement regarding the team’s decision.

Browns’s owners explain the intention of the team’s decision

During in statement, Haslam claimed that it was the outcome of attempting to find the best “long-term solution for our stadium”. “We’ve learned through our exhaustive work that renovating our current stadium will simply not solve many operational issues and would be a short-term approach,” they stated further.

Aside from that, they stated that without a dome, they would be unable to attract the “type of large-scale events and year-round activity” required to back up the breadth of this public-private collaboration.

Amidst this, Law Director and Chief Legal Counsel for the City of Cleveland, Mark Griffin also expressed his views on the ongoing saga of Browns Stadium. A municipal law stipulates the city to maintain the “Modell Law,” he remarked.

Apart from that, Griffin also stated that they need to protect their ‘taxpayers’ investment in the team. Besides that, he also added that they will do everything possible to retain them in downtown Cleveland.

“We are compiling information, researching case law, and evaluating next steps before moving forward with formal litigation action – which will likely occur in the coming weeks,” Griffin further explained.

In August, Cleveland proposed a $1.2 billion plan to renovate the Browns’ stadium. They pledged to invest $461 million in redeveloping the stadium and surrounding areas. In response, the Browns acknowledged the gesture with a multifaceted $2.4 billion proposal for a new stadium and entertainment complex. It is planned for the southern part of the city.

They are looking forward to a 50-50 private/public funding partnership. Now, only time will tell, what is on hold for the future of Browns Stadium.