Report questions Browns stadium funding plan: I-Team
CLEVELAND (WJW) – A report prepared by the Ohio Legislative Service Commission, at the request of a state senator, states some of the Haslam Sports Group's economic projections for a new enclosed stadium 'may be overly optimistic.'
The LSC report was released Monday by Senate Democratic Leader Nickie Antonio (D-Lakewood.) LSC is a nonpartisan agency that provides the legislature with research and fiscal analysis.
'The proposed funding plan for the new Browns stadium raises serious legal and financial concerns,' Antonio stated in a press release. 'The Haslams' projections are overly optimistic at best, and even their own consultants admit the analysis isn't intended to justify financing. Let's be clear: most of the so-called 'new jobs' are simply moving jobs away from Cleveland –- stadiums like this do not deliver the economic windfalls they promise. We should not move forward until we know the courts, the numbers and the public are on board.'
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Earlier this month, the House approved a proposed budget that would provide $600 million in bonds to the Haslam Sports Group. Profits from the project would be used to pay back the bond debt, HSG officials have stated. State Senators are now working on the budget.
'The bonds as described in House-passed version of H.B. 96 would be general obligation bonds (i.e., bonds back by the full faith and credit of the State). Rather, they are special obligation, or 'revenue obligation' bonds,' the report from LSC states. 'Whether this means they are constitutional is an open question, and ultimately only a judge could make that determination. '
The report further noted that staff was not able to verify HSG's 'economic claims because the source material and methodology were not documented in full detail.'
'Nevertheless, the HSG projections implied an outcome that would outperform other similar developments previously studied in peer-reviewed academic literature,' the report added.
The I-Team reached out to the Browns to discuss the report but have not yet heard back.
The report also questions the economic projections from HSG and the amount of new visitors that would go to the Brook Park location. HSG estimates 1.5 million new visitors. LSC calls that number 'overly optimistic.' The report added that the new stadium would result in a $10 to $11 million annual loss in tax revenue to the city of Cleveland.
Cuyahoga County Executive Chris Ronayne spoke to the I-Team on Friday and said he believes the enclosed stadium project will not be successful. He said he will not support it, even though it is planned to be built in Cuyahoga County.
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He believes the Browns should continue to play games in downtown Cleveland. He said moving the team to Brook Park will hurt downtown businesses.
'We don't see necessarily this deal is going to pan out,' Ronayne said. 'So if you claim it is the next big investment, we don't buy it. We want them to come home.'
Browns owner Jimmy Haslam spoke exclusively to the I-Team. He and a top executive revealed they are no longer talking about plans to renovate the existing stadium on the lakefront. Instead, team officials are focusing completely on building a dome in Brook Park with development around it.
The Browns are promising to invest more than $1 billion and are asking the state and county for $600 million each in bond money to be paid back with profits from the project. State officials are still discussing the funding proposal and are expected to have a decision by the end of June.
HSG filed a federal lawsuit in October challenging the city of Cleveland's attempt to use the Modell Law to keep the team from moving. The city also filed a lawsuit against HSG in Cuyahoga County Common Pleas Court asking a judge to enforce the Modell Law. Both cases are still pending.
Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.

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In the event of a wave against the president's party by voters, Democrats could theoretically end up winning more seats in the Texas delegation, according to Sam Wang, a Princeton neuroscience professor who also directs the Princeton Gerrymander Project. He laid out his argument in a post on Substack. 'The backfire effect is pretty large,' he said in a phone interview. 'In our preliminary calculations, it looks like this would make up to a dozen seats competitive that are currently safe Republican seats.' There are other assessments that draw different conclusions. The consequences of who controls the House — even by one vote — are enormous. Trump and House Speaker Mike Johnson have gotten a lot done — see the controversial One Big Beautiful Bill Act — despite having one of the smallest possible congressional majorities. 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House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries, who represents a district in New York, told CNN's Manu Raju Democrats are looking at maps in California, New York, New Jersey, Minnesota and Washington state. 'Some of the best and brightest lawyers in the country are looking at every single aspect of what's possible in these states,' Jeffries said. Expect lawsuits if Democrats try to redraw their maps in these states too. California, which utilizes an independent commission to draw congressional lines, has been considered something of a leader in depoliticizing the drawing of maps, and many of its districts are more competitive than in a state like Texas. Its lopsided Democratic majority is a testament to how blue the state has become. 'What little competition there is in Congress rises in large part from these independent commissions,' Wang said. 'Stepping back from fair districting would also reduce Congress's responsiveness to voters.' After the 2020 census, Republicans controlled the process for the drawing of more than 40% of congressional districts, compared with 11% controlled by Democrats. Nearly 20% were controlled by independent commissions, according to the Brennan Center at New York University. There's a growing perception among Democrats that unless reform can be applied nationwide, they should do more to gain advantage. David Imamura is the former chair of New York's state redistricting commission, which was paralyzed after the 2020 census. The state's maps, like those in multiple states, were the subject of years of litigation. He is now a Democrat in elected office in Westchester County and a partner specializing in election law at Abrams Fensterman in New York. He supports a nationwide standard for redistricting like one Democrats have proposed in previous years. But until then, and despite legal obstacles in New York, Democrats should do what they can to win, he said. 'If Republicans are going to cheat, then we have to match them tit for tat,' he said. Republicans in Utah set aside their own nonpartisan redistricting commission to split the Democratic-leaning Salt Lake City area into multiple Republican-leaning districts. But Democrats drew advantages for themselves in Illinois, Oregon and Nevada. Republicans' current advantage as a result is gerrymandering is no more than a handful of seats, according to Wang, even though Republican state governments controlled more of the process than Democratic state governments. Americans have gotten used to taking power from president's party. All five of the last presidents going back to Bill Clinton lost control of the House in a midterm election. That includes Trump during his first term. That means no amount of redistricting will save Republicans' slim majority if the country turns against Trump and Republicans. 'In a district-by-district fight for the House, picking up a handful of seats in Texas and maybe a seat or two in Ohio is probably enough for Republicans to hold the majority,' said Nathan Gonzales, publisher of the nonpartisan Inside Elections. 'But if the broader national mood shifts against President Trump and Republicans in power or Republicans have problems turning out the Trump coalition when he's not on the ballot, then Democrats have an opportunity to win control, even with new maps in some states.'