Cleveland has filed a lawsuit against the Cleveland Browns, accusing them of violating the "Modell Law," a statute allowing locals to buy a relocating team within six months of relocation. The lawsuit aims to prevent the team from building a new domed stadium in Brook Park, Cleveland.
Cleveland sues the Browns over Modell law
Lawyers for the city filed a lawsuit Monday in Cuyahoga County Common Pleas Court, alleging that the Browns are violating state law and asking the judge to force the team's owners to negotiate a deal with Cleveland or sell the team to local buyers.
The Modell law, a state law that prohibits professional sports teams from leaving taxpayer-supported facilities, is at the center of a lawsuit in Cleveland, which began last fall after negotiations with Mayor Justin Bibb over renovating the city-owned stadium Downtown were ended by Browns owners Jimmy and Dee Haslam.
They also filed a federal lawsuit in October challenging the law's validity, alleging it is unconstitutional and vague and is in conflict with the NFL rule. They further contend the law does not apply to this situation because they would only be relocating a short distance after their lease expires.
The law requires moving-out teams that play most of their games in subsidized facilities to secure permission from their host city, or else to give at least six months' notice and present their potential buyers to the city or local investors. Cleveland's attorneys argue that the law applies to the Browns and Haslam Sports Group, citing the city's $368 million investment in Huntington Bank Field and taxpayers' continued subsidy through the countywide sin tax on cigarettes and alcohol purchases.
“The Modell law is clear: if you take taxpayer money to fund your stadium, you have obligations to the community that made that investment possible,” Mark Griffin, the city’s law director, said in a news release. “The Haslam (Sports) Group’s circumvention of these requirements not only undermines the trust of Cleveland’s residents but also violates a law designed to protect all Ohioans.”
“You can’t take the money and run,” the city’s lawsuit says. The city accuses the Browns of seeking “to abandon the lakefront stadium in Downtown Cleveland that they asked the public to build and maintain for them, hoping that another set of taxpayers will pay for them to move to a new city with a new set of promises.”
The city is suing a judge to confirm the Modell law applies to the Browns and Brook Park proposal, and to prevent the Browns from receiving funding or commencing construction until Haslam Sports Group complies with the law.
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“Dumb c**t”: Eagles fan faces backlash after abusive incident with a Packers supporter during Wild Card gameThe Browns have unveiled images of a $2.4 billion stadium in Brook Park, surrounded by over $1 billion worth of apartments, dining, hotels, offices, retail, and parking. They have a deal to buy the 176-acre site - a former automotive plant property near Cleveland Hopkins International Airport. The Modell law, passed in 1996, has never been fully tested.