The Cleveland Browns may have hit a sizable roadblock in their attempt to secure public funding for a $2.4 billion new stadium as the team looks to relocate from Huntington Bank Field to a domed stadium in Brook Park.
The issue at hand is whether or not Ohio Governor Mike DeWine will use his power to veto a bill that would provide the Haslam family with $600 million in state-issued bonds as well as an additional $600 million to be paid for by Cuyahoga County as part of a tourism tax. The Haslam family would be responsible for the remaining $1.2 billion in this case.
While a bill that provided the necessary funding from the state to the Haslam family to move forward with their plans for the stadium site passed in the Ohio House of Representatives this week, the likelihood that this deal as currently constructed is ultimately put into action appears to be slim.
Saddling taxpayers with a portion of the cost to build a brand new football stadium seems as though it couldn't be further from what DeWine believes is most vital to residents of the state of Ohio at this time. In fact, DeWine has proposed doubling the tax on sports betting companies operating within the state as a means of financing stadium projects for not just the Browns but all of Ohio's professional sports teams.
There still appears to be a long way to go before any sort of resolution to the funding for this project is finalized but Browns fans hoping for a new stadium have, at least, two potential plans for how the money needed to build a domed stadium in Brook Park would be secured.