FirstEnergy bribed an Ohio politician and it took the Cleveland Browns 3 years to end the partnership

The Cleveland Browns can’t even do the basic, common sense thing, quickly

The Cleveland Browns and FirstEnergy Corp. have “mutually” agreed to part ways, ending their partnership nearly a decade after it began in 2013. FirstEnergy has been the name on the side of the stadium for years and their revenue had been very important to the continual upkeep of the stadium. Yet, after ten years, the two sides “mutually” agreed to end ties.

The CEO of the Haslam Sports Group, Dave Jenkins, released a statement (via ESPN) on the matter, saying;

"We’ve had a great association with FirstEnergy for more than two decades, and we appreciate this partnership and what it has created for our team and the broader northeast Ohio community. We reached this amicable agreement that is consistent with the productive relationship we have always enjoyed, and we wish FirstEnergy success with their future initiatives."

Yet, like Jimmy Haslam, who found himself in the middle of the Pilot Flying J scandal, so too did FirstEnergy. The electric company admitted to bribing Ohio politician Larry Householder, among others, who was a member of the Ohio House of Reprensititive and the former speaker of the House for Ohio.

The bribes were so egregious in size, U.S. Attorney David M. Devillers described it as “likely the largest bribery scheme ever perpetrated against the state of Ohio”. Money from FirstEnergy was funneled through fake nonprofits organization, in an attempt to evade campaign finance laws.

Householder, who was attempting to buy elections with the money, was called to resign, and when he didn’t, the Ohio House of Representatives expelled him from office. The whole ordeal was messy, and Cleveland officials, among others, called for the Haslams to part ways with FirstEnergy.

Householder is looking at 20 years in prison after being found guilty.

Nearly three years later, they finally did. But not before taking their money first.

What’s the future of the stadium’s name going forward?

The Cleveland Browns have no shame, we know this. This move wasn’t done for any moral reason, more than likely (and this is just a guess on my part), the Browns wanted FirstEnergy to renew their naming rights at a higher rate, to help with the renovation of the current stadium (or helping build a new one), FirstEnergy said no, and ergo the stadium has its old name back.

Currently, the stadium will return to the Cleveland Browns Stadium moniker it once carried, but that’ll likely change when the Haslams find another corporate partner willing to shell up the money they’re asking for to re-brand the stadium something different.