Editor's Note: This article has been updated to add the statement from the City of Cleveland.
A new statement from the Cleveland Browns did not rule out keeping its stadium in the City of Cleveland — but it might not have put fans at ease either.
Earlier today, Ken Prenderast NEOtrans reported that Haslam Sports Group, which owns the Cleveland Browns, has entered a purchase agreement for a 176-acre plot of land in Brook Park, near Cleveland-Hopkins International Airport. The land is big enough to support a stadium, and the move — which is not confirmed by sources and merely speculation at this point — would follow a trend of more than 10 teams that have moved their organizations outside of the limits of their namesake city.
Peter John-Baptiste, the Cleveland Browns vice president of communications, has responded to this report with the following statement:
"We've been clear on how complex future stadium planning can be. One certainty is our commitment to greatly improving our fan experience while also creating a transformative and lasting impact to benefit all of Northeast Ohio. We understand the magnitude of opportunity with a stadium project intent on driving more large-scale events to our region and are methodically looking at every possibility. We appreciate the collaborative process with the City of Cleveland and the leadership of Mayor Bibb in analyzing the landbridge and renovating the current stadium. At the same time, as part of our comprehensive planning efforts, we are also studying other potential stadium options in Northeast Ohio at various additional sites. There is still plenty of work to do and diligence to process before a long term stadium solution is determined and will share further updates at the appropriate time."
Later in the day, the City of Cleveland's chief of staff Bradford Davy responded to the news with the following statement:
"Keeping the Browns at Home on the Downtown Cleveland lakefront is a priority for Mayor Bibb and city leadership. We understand and respect how complex this process is and appreciate the partnership we've had and will continue to have with the Browns and Haslam Sports Group.
The administration has developed a strong, thoughtful and comprehensive package that we believe respects taxpayers and protects the city's general revenue fund while meeting hte needs expressed by the team. This has been shared with the HSG team during our extensive negotiations over the last eight months. WE continue to meet with their team to refine our terms and ocme to a shared vision and acceptable deal for both parties that improves the experience for residents, sports fans and visitors. The success of our collaboration and commitment on this topic has been recently demonstrated through yesterday's $20 million earmark which advances our shared goal of improving lakefront access to the stadium for everyone.
The experience of Cleveland residents and visitors to our city is top of mind for us and we are committed to developing our North Coast lakefront into a world-class, well-programmed, people-focused space and we see the activation of Browns Stadium as a key part of that vision. The mayor's commitment to a vibrant shore-to-core-to-shore plan for Cleveland is steadfast and gaining momentum. Downtown Cleveland is such an integral part of the game day experience and the transformational changes on the horizon promise to make that experience even better.
Go Browns!"
In July 2023 and again in September, NEOtrans reported stadium negotiations were faltering. NEOtrans shared insights from two sources, one a City of Cleveland source and the other a Browns source, who says a deal had to be done in “a matter of months, certainly less than a year” to keep the Browns in Cleveland.
"The only thing Dee and I would say for sure is we’re not leaving Northeast Ohio, that's for sure," Jimmy Haslam said in July 2023. "Our preference is for us to be on the lakefront. But we’ve got to see how things play out. It will be fluid. There will be bumps in the road and it may be different in three months than it is now.”
Read the full story to get a picture of the events leading up to this report and announcement as well as some historical perspective from the last time the team moved outside of Cleveland. At least time, thankfully, the NFL team isn't moving to another city.
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