The billionaire owners of the Cleveland Browns are pushing for taxpayer-shouldered subsidies for a new stadium, which begs the question: Will their money buy influence?
Ohio Capital-Journal reports that the state budget proposed by Ohio House Republicans includes $600 million in state-backed bonds for a new domed stadium for the Cleveland Browns in Brook Park.
Browns owners’ Jimmy and Dee Haslam also gave donations to Ohio lawmakers who are advancing the plan. The Ohio Capital Journal reviewed political donations to lawmakers from the Haslams and found they’ve contributed millions to federal and statewide campaigns.
Ohio House Speaker Matt Huffman, R-Lima, is one state official who has benefitted the most from the Haslam family’s donations.
“Campaign contributions do not influence policy decisions,” Huffman’s office said when asked about the donations.
In a proposal first reported by the Statehouse News Bureau and obtained by WEWS, an 18-page amendment would provide the money to the Haslam Sports Group. Republicans also have proposed changing state law to allow lawmakers to give more money for pro-sports projects.
However, state, county, and city officials are opposed to the stadium, especially if it means using taxpayer money to build it. Lawmakers are set to debate the plan over the coming weeks.
The Browns’ owners want to leave their current home at Huntington Bank Field, the team’s longtime home on the shores of Lake Erie, and build a new domed stadium in Brook Park near Cleveland Hopkins International Airport.
To sweeten the deal, the Browns have offered $38 million upfront as collateral for the state, NEWS 5 Cleveland reports. They also want $1.2 billion in taxpayer money to help pay for the project, which has an estimated price tag of $2.4 billion, NEWS 5 Cleveland reported last fall. Under their plan, $600 million would come from the state in the form of bonds, and be paid back by tax revenues.
Gov. Mike DeWine is trying to block the budget amendment, saying the state doesn’t have the money and it would set a bad precedent. He is worried that more requests could come in soon. The Cincinnati Bengals are working on a $1.25 billion stadium renovation as their lease expires next year.
“We can’t really afford to continue to put money in sports stadiums out of a general fund,” DeWine said in this News 5 Cleveland report. “There’s not enough money there.”
Instead, DeWine has recommended raising the sports betting tax and using the money to create a fund that all sports teams can use.
DeWine said that Ohio has always contributed some money to professional sports, but the financial impact this would have would be “about a billion dollars of tax dollars directly out of the general fund,” Ohio Capital Journal reported.
Huffman recently submitted a proposed budget that cuts the amount called for under the Fair School Funding Plan by about two-thirds to $226 million. Huffman has also expressed support for the Brook Park stadium idea.
· Between Jan. 1, 2024 and March 24, 2025, Huffman’s political action committee (PAC) Huffman for Ohio accepted $60,999 from Jimmy and Dee Haslam, according to campaign finance reports. The couple are among the Ohio House speaker’s largest individual donors.
In addition:
· House Finance Committee Chair Brian Stewart, R-Ashville, didn’t receive donations from the Haslams directly. Still, his largest contribution was from Huffman’s PAC, $15,499 on Feb. 7. Stewart has called it “a once-in-a-lifetime project,” and calls the stadium and similar projects “huge economic drivers.”
· House Finance Committee Vice Chair Mike Dovilla, R-Berea, received $2,500 from Dee Haslam and Jimmy Haslam on Aug. 16, 2024, in two separate donations worth $1,250.
There are twenty-one Republicans on the House Finance Committee. Including Dovilla, four have accepted direct contributions from the Haslams:
- Rep. Gayle Manning, R-North Ridgeville: $2,500
- Rep. Sharon Ray, R-Wadsworth: $2,500
- Rep. Jamie Callender, R-Concord: $2,500
Of the nine Republicans on the House Arts, Athletics and Tourism Committee, Committee Chair Melanie Miller, R-Ashland, and Rep. David Thomas, R-Jefferson, have accepted direct contributions from the Haslams.
· Miller was given $1,250 on Aug. 19 last year by Jimmy Haslam
· Rep. Thomas received $2,500 from Jimmy and Dee on the same date.
· Ohio Senate President Rob McColley, R-Napoleon, received $30,999 from Jimmy and Dee Haslam last year, according to campaign finance reports.
· Sen. Jerry Cirino, R-Kirkland, was appointed Senate Finance Committee Chair in January. Reports show Jimmy and Dee Haslam gave Cirino $15,000 in August of last year, and attended an event supporting Cirino on Aug. 29.
Three other Republicans on the Senate Finance Committee have received donations from Jimmy and Dee Haslam within the last year. They are:
- Sen. Nathan Manning, R-North Ridgeville: $5,000
- Sen. Tom Patton, R-Strongsville: $5,000
- Sen. Mark Romanchuk, R-Ontario: $2,500
Five Democrats appeared on the list of candidates to whom the Haslams have donated.
When the plan was first announced last year, Cleveland Mayor Justin Bibb called the move “frustrating” and “extremely disheartening,” WKYC 3 reported.
And the feud between the Browns and the City of Cleveland has heated up over the last week, NEWS 5 Cleveland reports. Bibb described the team’s plans for a new mixed-use stadium district in Brook Park as a “betrayal of Ohio taxpayers.”
Jimmy Haslam is the Chairman and Managing Partner of the Haslam Sports Group, and his wife Susan “Dee” Haslam is CEO. They own the Browns, co-own the Milwaukee Bucks, and have operating rights to the Columbus Crew. Jimmy Haslam’s personal net worth is $8.5 billion, and the Haslam family overall is valued at $14.4billion.
The Haslams dumped more than $6.5 million into American elections during this two-year political cycle alone, Cleveland.com reported last fall. In Ohio, they were among the largest individual donors opposing this past November’s Issue 1 amendment against gerrymandering.
