The city of Cleveland on Jan. 14 filed a lawsuit in Cuyahoga County Common Pleas Court aimed at preventing the Browns from leaving downtown to play in a proposed domed stadium in Brook Park beginning with the 2029 season. The Browns’ lease at Huntington Bank Field, where they have played since 1999, expires after the 2028 season. Related Articles Cleveland Browns | Browns new OC Tommy Rees has ‘incredible football mind,’ Stefanski says Cleveland Browns | Browns promote tight ends coach Tommy Rees to offensive coordinator Cleveland Browns | Browns interview Klint Kubiak for offensive coordinator vacancy Cleveland Browns | Deion Sanders could be a pain to Browns if they draft his son Shedeur | Jeff Schudel Cleveland Browns | Browns will play home game in London in 2025, NFL announces The late Art Modell moved the original Browns from Cleveland to Baltimore in 1996. The move announced on Nov. 6, 1995, caught Cleveland officials and Ohio lawmakers by surprise. To make sure another owner doesn’t try the same thing, legislators passed what became known as “the Modell Law.” The law states an owner of a professional sports team that uses a tax-supported facility for its home games and also gets funding from the state must work out an agreement with the city to change venues or give a sixth-month notice of the intent to leave while at the same time giving the municipality or individuals (or groups) an opportunity to buy the team. Team owners Dee and Jimmy Haslam have no interest in selling the Browns. They bought the team from Randy Lerner in 2012. The lawsuit says “over $4 million annually in Cuyahoga County sin taxes” go toward maintaining the current stadium. The lawsuit is 264 pages long. A story posted on 923thefan.com reported the city wants a jury trial and also wants the court to block any non-private funding the Browns might receive for the domed stadium project. The Browns anticipated Cleveland would file a lawsuit based on the Modell law long before Jan. 14. “Throughout our future stadium planning process, we have always acted transparently and in good faith with the City of Cleveland and are disappointed in the City’s latest course of action stating its intent to bring litigation regarding the “Modell Law,” The Haslam Sports Group said in a statement issued Oct. 24. “These statements and similar actions create uncertainty and do not serve the interests of Greater Cleveland. Therefore, today we have filed a lawsuit seeking clarity on this vague and unclear law.” The Browns want to build the domed stadium on a 176-acre site near the airport. The estimated cost of the stadium is $2.4 billion. The Haslam Sports Group wants the cost of the project to be a 50-50 split, which would mean $1.2 billion would be paid through taxes. The rest would be privately funded. Some of the tax revenue to pay for the project would be generated by money spent at the new stadium. Separately, the area around the domed stadium would be privately funded at an estimated $1 billion. When the entire project is completed, it is projected to include a new stadium, 300,000 square feet of retail, two upscale hotels, 1,100 apartments, and 500,000 square feet of office. Last year a study funded by the city of Cleveland and done by Philadelphia-based Econsult Solutions concluded: “The relocation of the Browns to Brook Park Stadium will result in the City losing at least $30 million in direct, indirect, and induced economic output annually, including $14 million in employee compensation that supports approximately 360 jobs. A large portion of this lost economic activity will likely impact Downtown Cleveland. “The City will also lose approximately $11 million in direct, indirect, and induced tax revenue annually from team and stadium operations and visitor spending. “The projected programming of more than 50 non-NFL events at Brook Park Stadium and environs would draw activities from existing sports, entertainment, and convention venues in the City that could more than double these economic losses from the City.” The Haslam Sports Group hired the Robert Charles Lesser Company (RCLCO), a real estate consulting company with offices across the country to conduct a separate study. The RCLCO study reached this conclusion: “We really look at this site as complementary in the broader landscape of Cleveland and Northeast Ohio, overall,” Managing Director of RCLCO Erin Talkington said in the release. “Most regions, including others in the Midwest, have multiple venues that host events and today those types of events aren’t coming to Cleveland. So, Cleveland’s spending is actually leaving and going to places like Indianapolis and Detroit to go to those events. So, this is really an opportunity not just for this particular site to have more activity, but for the region to capture economic activity that’s been leaving and to bring in visitor spending that’s not coming here today. “The second key finding demonstrated how the stadium in Brook Park and the adjacent mixed-use development will generate positive economic impact for the region,” the report says. “RCLCO projected an annual direct economic output of $1.2 billion across Cuyahoga County, as well as creating nearly 5,400 permanent jobs “Of the $1.2 billion in annual economic output, $550 million is projected to come from the surrounding mixed-use development. Another $217 million is projected to occur at the stadium from major events and other non-NFL activities, showing significant economic impact to the region.”