Investigations

Jimmy Haslam broke ground on the Browns' $2.6 billion dome

Ohio pledged $600 million from unclaimed funds before a judge blocked the transfer.

In Brook Park, Ohio, Cleveland Browns owner Jimmy Haslam broke ground on a $2.6 billion domed stadium scheduled to open for the 2029 season. More Perfect Union reported the case. The project moves the team from downtown Huntington Bank Field to a 67,500-seat building beside Cleveland Hopkins International Airport, about 15 miles south of the lakefront.

Jimmy and Dee Haslam, who own the franchise, hired HKS to design the dome. The same firm drew up SoFi Stadium for Los Angeles Rams owner Stan Kroenke. Final ticket prices are not set, but averages in the new building are expected to start above $200 per game in a market where Browns seats had been among the NFL's cheapest.

For decades, fans gathered in the city-owned Muni Lot on a strip of asphalt between train tracks and Lake Erie. Scott Nunnari bought his first tailgate bus in 2002 and a second in 2006. On regular-season Sundays his crew arrived at 4 a.m. and paid $50 to park all weekend.

The Brook Park plan replaces that lot with Haslam-owned parking and a stadium built around premium sections rather than the open upper decks at the Factory of Sadness. Every season ticket holder, including those in the Dawg Pound, will have to buy a personal seat license before buying tickets. The Browns had not required PSLs at Huntington Bank Field.

One man told the reporters he had held season tickets for 16 years and would not renew because of rising costs. Buffalo Bills fans who drove three hours to Cleveland said PSLs at the Bills' new stadium started at $1,500 before tickets.

The Haslams committed about $1.755 billion of the cost, roughly two-thirds of the total. Ohio budget writers diverted more than $1 billion from the state's Unclaimed Funds Account into the Ohio Cultural and Sports Facility Performance Grant Fund and earmarked $600 million for the Browns. Brook Park expects about $245 million from tax revenues tied to the development.

The stadium shell will be publicly owned while Haslam Sports Group keeps operating revenue, the same split used in other recent NFL builds. Former Ohio Attorney General Marc Dann sued on behalf of residents whose unclaimed money the state held, arguing the transfer violates constitutional limits on taking private property. In March, Franklin County Magistrate Jennifer Hunt issued a preliminary injunction halting the unclaimed-funds transfer while the case proceeds. Dann said litigation could run for years.

Scott Nunnari said he would keep tailgating win or lose, but he wanted a new home for the Muni Lot party when the team leaves downtown. The Browns have told fans they will try to preserve that spirit in Brook Park.

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