Power players clash over future of the Browns and downtown Cleveland
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Huntington Bank Field on the lakefront. Photo: Sam Allard/Axios
The Browns' battle lines are drawn and the troops are assembling.
In one corner: The Haslam Sports Group, hell bent on building a multibillion-dollar domed facility in the suburbs and securing one of the largest public stadium expenditures in U.S. history in the process.
- In the other: The city of Cleveland, Cuyahoga County and their top elected leaders, who have emphasized the current stadium's centrality in lakefront development.
The intrigue: Both sides desperately wanted (and lobbied for) the endorsement of the Greater Cleveland Partnership, the region's chamber of commerce.
- GCP supported the move to Brook Park this week — a decision seen by many as predictable, as Dee Haslam sits on the board of directors.
What they're saying: "The Brook Park option is more practical to move forward," GCP CEO Baiju Shah said in a statement.
- "The additional events, and expected growth in live entertainment, are an economic opportunity for the entire region."
The other side: The Cleveland City Council offered perhaps the sharpest rebuke, releasing a statement that accused GCP of forgetting the "C" in its name.
- "It is the worst-kept secret in town that GCP's leadership is disinterested in the work of revitalizing our region's core," said councilman Kerry McCormack.
- "There should be a change of leadership at this increasingly irrelevant organization or an acknowledgment that they are here to represent the interests of only the ultra-wealthy."
Downtown Cleveland, Inc., typically arm-in-arm with GCP, described in a statement being "disappointed" with the chamber's decision and said a Brook Park stadium would undermine the existing public and private investments downtown.
In the trenches of LinkedIn, meanwhile, local stadium financing expert Ken Silliman has condemned the plan to move the team.
- He argues County Executive Chris Ronayne is correct to withhold county money for a project that will cannibalize existing retail centers, complicate traffic and leave Cleveland with a significant annual tax hole.
Go deeper: State agencies question Browns' stadium math