Cleveland expert wants Congress to tackle stadium subsidies

Zoom in: In a recent Cleveland.com op-ed, Silliman notes that private owners historically paid for their own facilities.

• But Cleveland, Baltimore and St. Louis poured hundreds of millions of public dollars into new stadiums in the 1990s to lure football franchises, causing an "upheaval."
• "The NFL rebranded the three leases that should have remained remote outliers — signed under duress — into nonnegotiable templates for all future stadium leases," Silliman writes.

What's next: Silliman proposes two key federal policies:

• Reviving a 1998 bill to formalize team relocation procedures, including public hearings and judicial review for interested parties.
• Authorizing pro sports facility owners to receive historic tax credits, which could restrain team owners from frequently pursuing new stadiums.

Catch up quick: Silliman has offered versions of these suggestions before. The longtime Cleveland City Hall aide has testified on the subject to city council, explaining owners' asymmetrical leverage.

• He also wrote a niche book on Cleveland's history of sports facility negotiations in 2023.

The bottom line: "It is past time to acknowledge that billion-dollar sports subsidy demands are federal issues requiring a congressional response," Silliman argues.