Cleveland City Council Enacts "Art Modell Law" As Browns Continue Mulling Future Stadium Options (2024)

While renderings and rumors over the Browns future stadium make the rounds on social media the city of Cleveland ensuring no final decision is made without going through the proper channels.

On Monday, Cleveland City Council approved an ordinance that will urge Mayor Justin Bibb to enforce a famous piece of legislation known more simply as the "Art Modell Law." The approved legislation comes about a month after councilman Brian Kazy announced his intentions to enact the law aimed at keeping the Browns in the city of Cleveland.

It's a political move by the local government after team owner's Jimmy and Dee Haslam admitted back in March that they are exploring the feasibility of building a state of the art domed facility on a plot of land in Brook Park near Cleveland Hopkins Airport. The Haslams are in the process of purchasing the 176-acre property, where the structure could be built.

The section of law being executed by Cleveland city council is more formally know as Ohio Revised Code, Section 9.67, which states:

No owner of a professional sports team that uses a tax-supported facility for most of its home games and receives financial assistance from the state or a political subdivision thereof shall cease playing most of its home games at the facility and begin playing most of its home games elsewhere unless the owner either:

(A) Enters into an agreement with the political subdivision permitting the team to play most of its home games elsewhere;

(B) Gives the political subdivision in which the facility is located not less than six months' advance notice of the owner's intention to cease playing most of its home games at the facility and, during the six months after such notice, gives the political subdivision or any individual or group of individuals who reside in the area the opportunity to purchase the team.

Essentially, the piece of legislatures prevents the Haslams from moving the Browns out of the "tax-supported" facility that is Cleveland Browns Stadium without six month notice of doing so, or else they must give other local groups a chance to purchase the the franchise. Despite the fact that the Haslams plan would simply move the team to the suburbs, Kazy and company believe the "Art Modell Law" still applies, even though it's introduction in 1996 was meant to prevent owners from following in Modell's footsteps and moving a local pro team to a different city entirely.

The Haslams have been adamant throughout these ongoing stadium negotiations that they intend to keep the team in Northeast Ohio and that it wouldn't begin playing games elsewhere until after the current lease on the building expires in 2028. They even suggested they would look to extend the lease if needed to give adequate time for a new facility to be completed.

For what its worth, the other stadium option consists of dumping more than $1 billion into the current structure to overhaul it, with the bill being split 50-50 between public and private funding. That project would not include adding a dome to the stadium, which is something the Haslams have seemed keen on bringing to the area.

According to Signal Cleveland, Representatives from the Haslam Sports Group met with state lawmakers about the Brook Park proposal, a meeting that seems to have produced a recent rendering of the facility that's been shared on social media. While that project is projected to cost upwards of $2 billion the Haslams would seek state and potentially local funding to help split that bill as well.

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