Browns May Stay Downtown Two Years Longer Under New Settlement

If it seemed like the Cleveland Browns and their owners the Haslam Sports Group (HSG) were a tad generous with their $100 million settlement with the City of Cleveland, now we know why.

According to the settlement term sheet, a copy of which is provided here as a result of NEOtrans securing it through a public records request, the settlement agreement allows the Browns to keep playing at the 1999-built Huntington Bank Field in Downtown Cleveland for up to two more years after the existing 30-year lease expires at the end of the 2028 National Football League (NFL) season on Feb. 1, 2029.

“The Browns will have an option, subject to an amendment to the current lease, to extend the lease on the same terms for a period of one year,” the term sheet says. “The Browns may exercise this lease extension option no more than twice, such that the lease shall not be extended beyond February 1, 2031. The Browns must give notice of their diesire to extend the lease no later than one year prior to the date the lease would terminate.”

The reason is that construction work on HSG’s new enclosed Huntington Bank Field in suburban Brook Park and, especially, its associated transportation infrastructure may not be completed as quickly as HSG would have liked.

“If the Brook Park stadium mixed-use project is prevented from being completed or otherwise becoming operational as a result of any action, event, or circumstance not caused by the Browns, and the Browns continue to play the majority of their homes games in Cleveland, Ohio after the scheduled termination of the lease inclusive of any agreed upon lease extensions, then the Browns shall have no obligations set forth in…this settlement term sheet (meaning it won’t have to pay the $100 million),” the term sheet says.

But a Cleveland Browns source explained that “Two-year extensions of a lease are more of a reflection of good collaboration” between the parties rather than the result of “worry about being able to have the (stadium) building open by 2029.”

While the settlement agreement hasn’t been seen outside of the top staff of Mayor Justin Bibb’s administration and those at HSG, the sources confirmed there is a provision in it that will extend the current lease by at least two more years unless canceled by mutual consent of both parties.

A new press statement was released today by Bibb’s staff and it alludes to the lease extension and the two parties’ ability to cancel the extension if the Brook Park stadium is completed well before the two-year extension expires.

In the mayor’s statement, it refers to actions and payments that will occur only when the stadium lease is terminated. Termination would not be needed if the lease was simply allowed to expire on its original date.

For example, the mayor’s announcement says “HSG will raze the current Huntington Bank Field in downtown Cleveland to a pad-ready state at the Browns’ expense, beginning promptly upon termination of the Parties’ lease agreement. This is estimated to be $30 million, but HSG will cover the cost of demolition if it exceeds this amount.”

It also notes “Upon termination of the lease, HSG will invest no less than $2 million per year over the next 10 years on mutually agreed Community Benefit Projects totaling no less than $20 million.”

HSG hopes to start construction of the new, enclosed Huntington Bank Field in Brook Park in early 2026. Completing construction of the 67,000-seat, $2.4 billion stadium before the start of the 2029 NFL season will be a challenge.

But even more unlikely is the timely completion of more than $120 million in new roadway and transit projects to improve access to the stadium site. Those are also intended to minimize traffic congestion impacts on access to the nearby Hopkins International Airport, area businesses and residential districts.

State and regional decisions on allocating funding to those transportation projects are getting pushed back from December 2025 to March 2026. Design and engineering alone will take more than a year with permitting and properties acquisitions to follow and two years or more of construction after that.

However, no one outside of the mayor’s top staff or at HSG has seen the settlement agreement. NEOtrans has submitted a public records request to City Hall. We also asked City Council President Blaine Griffin for a copy but he expressed frustration that he hadn’t seen it yet either.

“We’re looking to start the discussion on Monday (at the next regular council meeting),” Griffin said. “We don’t have a copy of it so there’s nothing to approve. We’re focused on process right now.”

On the current lease, the Browns pay annual rent of $250,000 to the City of Cleveland to use the stadium, plus additional, undisclosed amounts for game-day expenses such as utilities, security and maintenance. The City of Cleveland reportedly pays $1.3 million per year to own, operate and insure the existing Huntington Bank Field downtown.

In his announcement today, Bibb said the respective legal teams for the city and HSG have signed a term sheet for the settlement agreement, marking the next step in the process, with a final full settlement agreement to follow.

He said the terms highlight both parties’ commitment to working together on the $2.4 billion Brook Park stadium and $1.2 billion mixed-use district and to improve the lakefront for $450 million – a key part of Mayor Bibb’s Cleveland ERA economic agenda.

HSG’s $100 million contribution, once finalized and approved, will bring the total amount of investment committed to redeveloping the lakefront to over $250 million since Bibb took office. That doesn’t include $134 million in local matching dollars from the city’s Shore-to-Core-to-Shore tax-increment financing district.

The city received approximately $80 million last year from the state and federal government, and was also awarded nearly $70 million in federal funds earlier this year. The $450 million figure for realizing the lakefront plan is a preliminary estimate and doesn’t include redeveloping the current Huntington Bank Field site.

In July, the City of Cleveland, the nonprofit North Coast Waterfront Development Corporation (NCWDC) and real estate brokerage CBRE issued a request for qualifications (RFQ) on redeveloping 50 acres of the lakefront — including the existing 22-acre stadium land.

“Redeveloping the lakefront will create a place where Cleveland residents from every neighborhood will gather, enjoy the water, and feel a sense of belonging and joy,” said Bibb in a written statement. “These investments put Cleveland on a definitive path to being one of the best dual waterfront cities in the country.”

“We are thrilled to continue to partner with the City of Cleveland by investing in the transformation of our lakefront,” said Dee and Jimmy Haslam. “We are grateful to play a role in pushing the region forward by providing a clean slate for the lakefront to allow the Mayor’s administration to capitalize on the opportunity that our stadium move to Brook Park creates for the reimagined lakefront that this city and region have long deserved.”

“We are extremely excited about the combination of a new vibrant lakefront, the Bedrock riverfront project, a new world-class enclosed Huntington Bank Field and adjacent mixed-use development that supports Mayor Bibb’s critical vision for a modernized airport; all reinforcing our belief that Northeast Ohioans should have it all,” the Haslams continued.

As noted earlier this week, per the settlement, the city and HSG will voluntarily dismiss all lawsuits related to HSG’s decision to move the Browns Huntington Bank Field to Brook Park, and have agreed on various terms — pending all necessary approvals from the court and other entities.

Those include:

• HSG will pay (or donate) $25 million to the City by December 1, 2025 (or a later date once all approvals are secured).

• HSG will raze the current Huntington Bank Field in downtown Cleveland to a pad ready state at the Browns’ expense, beginning promptly upon termination of the Parties’ lease agreement. This is estimated to be $30 million, but HSG will cover the cost of demolition if it exceeds this amount.

• HSG will pay (or donate) $5 million to the City by January 1 of each calendar year from 2029 to 2033, totaling $25 million over five years.

• Upon termination of the Lease, HSG will invest no less than $2 million per year over the next 10 years on mutually agreed Community Benefit Projects totaling no less than $20 million.

• Both parties will work together in ensuring public health and safety interests regarding any effects on Cleveland Hopkins International Airport operations caused by the new stadium in Brook Park.

• Both parties will mutually support infrastructure plans with respect to the Brook Park stadium mixed-use project, the modernization of Cleveland Hopkins International Airport, and the development of the Cleveland lakefront, including the redevelopment of the Burke Lakefront Airport property.

City council must authorize certain aspects of the agreement such as demolition of city-owned property and the acceptance of donations to the city. The terms will be included as part of broader legislation that the Bibb Administration plans to introduce during Monday’s city council meeting.

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