Haslam breaks ground on $2.6B domed stadium

BROOK PARK — Cleveland Browns owner Jimmy Haslam and his family marked a significant milestone Thursday with the groundbreaking ceremony for the new domed stadium scheduled to open for the 2029 season. There are still a couple of questions to be answered, though, even as construction commences on the 67,500-capacity facility, which will be next to Cleveland Hopkins International Airport and about 15 miles south of downtown Cleveland. The $600 million that the state of Ohio has committed to the $2.6 billion project is on hold due to a class-action lawsuit, which argues that the provision in the state budget that took $1 billion from the state's Unclaimed Funds Account to help fund sports facilities in Ohio violates constitutional prohibitions against taking people's private property for government use. Governor Mike DeWine did not know if the litigation would be settled by the time he leaves office in January after two terms. "This is clearly going to go on for a while and so I'm not happy about that. There's nothing we can do about that, but we're going to go ahead," he said after the ceremony. "I think that we're going to win this case in court. It's slow, certainly, and we're waiting, but I think eventually we win. If we do not win, if we ultimately lose, there's another alternative. "My initial proposal was to tax the sports gaming companies. I think that's still a possibility that we could do." The city of Brook Park still has not approved its $245 million funding planned. The Haslam Sports Group — the company founded by Dee and Jimmy Haslam, their daughter and son-in-law — is covering most of the costs at $1.76 billion along with any cost overruns. Haslam said stadium discussions began in 2018, which originally centered on renovating the Browns' current lakefront home. That venue opened in 1999 as Cleveland Browns Stadium. It replaced Cleveland Municipal Stadium, which was in operation from 1931 until its demolition in 1996. The idea to turn to another site started to form in 2021 when it made sense to build a new facility instead of renovating. The new stadium, as well as residential and other mixed-use development, will sit on 178 acres that once had two Ford Motor Company plants. The City of Cleveland tried to challenge the Browns' right to leave downtown before the two sides settled. The Browns will pay for their current home to be demolished after the 2028 season, which will make way for lakefront development. Because the new stadium is next to an airport, it will sit 80 feet below ground and 221 feet above ground. The Ohio Department of Transportation waived the height limit, which is 150 feet above the airport's ground elevation, after an independent consultant determined that construction of the stadium would not change any flight paths. The building will have marking and lighting required by the Federal Aviation Administration. "It was a bumpy road to get here, but we're excited we're here," Haslam said. "I think everybody is finally beginning to sense that this is reality." The stadium will feature a folded plate transparent roof, allowing plenty of sunlight to come in while shielding fans from the cold temperatures that are a late-season trademark of Browns home games. The most notable feature inside will be the new Dawg Pound. It will be built at a 34-degree pitch and extend more than 60 rows to just beneath one of the giant video scoreboards. It is designed to be free standing, but there will be seats that can be folded out if fans want to sit. The section will have the feel of many European soccer stadiums and takes it cue from the "Yellow Wall' section at Borussia Dortmund's stadium in Germany's Bundesliga. The Browns and stadium designer HKS also say the first row will be 16 feet from the field and the last only 248 feet, which will be closer than any other NFL stadium. Nearly 80% of the seats will be in the lower deck. The new stadium is expected to be in the running for the NCAA Men's Final Four, premier concerts and other sporting events. When it comes to possibly holding a Super Bowl, the wait might be awhile. Commissioner Roger Goodell said after the ground breaking that the stadium will certainly be Super Bowl caliber, but the Northeast Ohio area has other issues to contend with, including lack of hotel space needed for a Super Bowl. Goodell estimated that Cleveland has only half the rooms needed at a minimum to host the event. Goodell did say that Cleveland is in the running to host the NFL Draft again. It did in 2021, but that was when COVID restrictions were still in place, which limited capacity. "I think the real challenge is going to be how transformational this is here. The airport is important for us, hotels are important for us. All of the facilities are the biggest challenge for hosting a Super Bowl," Goodell said. "It's great for economic impact, but it's hard for cities to be able to meet some of those requirements on the facilities. So that's the biggest challenge." The Browns are also part of a mini stadium building boom. Buffalo's new facility opens this year, Tennessee's next year and Jacksonville's renovated stadium debuts in 2028.