CLEVELAND — Stadium talk continues in Cleveland as the Haslam Sports Group released a funding model to support its move to a domed stadium in Brook Park and move away from the current Huntington Bank Field downtown.

The stadium portion would cost approximately $2.4 billion and the Haslam Sports Group is seeking a 50/50 private and public partnership. The Browns are seeking $1.2 billion in funding from both.

HSG is looking at three sources to comprise the public funding: the City of Brook Park, Cuyahoga County and the state. Specifically, HSG said the project is calling for “bond-financed contributions of $422 million from Brook Park, $178 million from Cuyahoga County and $600 million from the state of Ohio.”

In a news release, HSG said they would pay it back through tax revenue generated by the stadium project.

HSG said this proposed model does not use existing tax revenue sources or take away from current public uses, but instead leverages the new tax revenues of the project. The goal is for the revenues to create up-front proceeds and excess to be used by stakeholders for the sustainability of the building and future repairs.

HSG said it is asking the county to leverage its credit and issue bonds which will be paid through the Brook Park project-generated revenues alongside potentially two new county taxes. The group said the taxes would be on visitors to the region, a 1% incremental bed tax and a rental car surcharge.

Through these sources, HSG said it would allow the county to issue bonds generating $600 million in project funding alongside the private investment. According to the funding model, more than two-thirds of revenues backing the bonds would come from Brook Park sources.

The model said approximately $422 million of the $600 million would be attributed to the city’s new tax revenue sources including admission tax, incomes tax and parking tax.

“I think what is attractive to us is the vast majority of those monies, bed taxes and rental car fees, are going to be paid by people who do not live in Cuyahoga County,” Managing and Principal Partner Jimmy Haslam said. “It would be unfair to say all of them, but the vast majority would be paid by people who do not live in the county.”

HSG said the remaining $178 million would come from county sources being paid by visitors to the county through an incremental bed tax and a rental car surcharge.

The group said that the city will have new and incremental fiscal impact through the operations of the Browns. HSG said it has a capacity to benefit from “nearly $1.8 billion in projected fiscal impacts over the initial 30-year lease.”

According to the funding model, the largest portion of funds would come from an enhanced admission tax through an agreement to increase the 3% admissions tax to 6.5%. 

HSG said it expects the county to leverage sales tax credit for other priorities, such as the funding of a new county jail; in the proposal, it stays away from sales tax and is looking to the county to leverage non-tax credit to maximize Brook Park’s revenue.

Finally, HSG is looking for $600 million from the state. 

“HSG is not asking the state of Ohio to contribute $600 million as has been done in the past on sports stadium projects,” the news release said. “Rather, it is asking the State to borrow its balance sheet to maximize the impact of the taxes generated by the project and Browns operations.”

Chief Operating Officer David A. Jenkins said in the release that the state generates income, sales and commercial activity taxes on businesses, which will generate about $3 billion in tax revenue over a 30-year period. Through this, the project would have a fiscal impact of $2.9 billion and after paying off bonds, it leaves a net $1.3 billion for the state.

“That leaves roughly 1.3 billion new dollars that would not exist but for a domed stadium in mixed use development. Again, relying on the incremental taxes generated by the project to fund the $600 million bond issuance and create a return for the state of Ohio,” Jenkins said.

HSG said if the county takes part in the project, and wraps the Brook Park revenue sources, the excess local tax revenues will go toward debt service on the bonds, repairs and other uses. The repairs are projected to cost approximately $400 million over the 30-year lease of the domed stadium.

“This is how we can solve for capital repairs,” Jenkins said. “How we can solve for infrastructure or other city or regional needs. But it takes all parties at the table to identify and prioritize those needs work through the best use of the excess.”

HSG said the domed stadium will bring year-round events and create 5,400 permanent jobs and 6,000 construction jobs. The proposed project would sit on 176 acres.

The real estate consulting firm RCLCO projected an annual economic impact of $1.3 billion.

“We get excited about the thought that we could have a domed stadium, a (modernized) airport, a developed lakefront, and it could be all done,” Managing and Principal Partner Dee Haslam said. “And a lot of the funds for the lakefront and some of the development downtown is spun off by what we’re doing at Brook Park. And so, we get really excited about that this could be a community that can do it all. We just need to work together to get it done.”

As Haslam Sports Group continues to plan for the new stadium, it is receiving pushback from the City of Cleveland and the county as well.

Cleveland recently filed a lawsuit against HSG, alleging it is violating the Art Modell Law and contract agreements with the city after receiving over $350 million from taxpayers. The law was enacted in the 90s when the Browns attempted to relocate to Baltimore.

The law requires teams playing in taxpayer-funded facilities to secure city approval for relocation or provide a fair opportunity for others to purchase the team.

An analysis said with the stadium move, Cleveland, which currently has the lakefront stadium of the Browns, could lose at least $30 million in economic impact annually. 

“Like many urban cities, we are still recovering from the COVID-19 pandemic and the rise of remote work,” Cleveland Mayor Justin Bibb said at a press conference in October. “It would move jobs, development and access from the urban core.”