Ohio Senate approves $600 million for domed stadium project. All that is left is final approval by Gov. Mike DeWine.
The Cleveland Browns journey to a domed stadium in Brook Park cleared a major hurdle on Wednesday.
The Ohio Senate approved the state’s $60 billion biennial operating budget, which includes $600 million for the new stadium. That amount represents half of the $1.2 billion in public funding that Haslam Sports Group wants for the project planned for 176 acres in the Cleveland suburb.
Related: Browns fans: What do you think of the domed stadium plan?
Senate and House leaders will now get together to work out the final version of the budget before sending it to Governor Mike DeWine for final approval, with a deadline of July 1 for DeWine to sign the budget.
While it has been expected for some time that the state would approve its portion of the funding, the source of the $600 million is still being debated. DeWine wants to double the state’s tax on the sports-betting companies that operate in the state, House Republicans want to issue bonds, while House Republicans want to tap the state’s Unclaimed Property Fund.
It will be interesting to see which proposal makes it to DeWine, and whether or not he will use a line-item veto to strike the plan if he doesn’t like it. If that were to happen, the House and Senate can override any veto with a 60 percent vote in each chamber.
Seeing as how representatives from both the House and the Senate will get together to work on the final budget that will be sent to DeWine, it is not unreasonable to expect that they will have the votes in their pockets to override a veto from the governor.
In addition to the money from the state, the Haslams are seeking $422 million from the city of Brook Park and $178 million from Cuyahoga County. The only hang-up in the plan comes from Cuyahoga County Executive Chris Ronayne, one of several local legislators who have pushed back on the plan for the Browns to leave downtown Cleveland.
Even if Ronayne somehow holds on to that $178 million, it is hard to see the Haslams backing down on the project.
It has been a long road since the news first broke in early 2024 that the Haslams were pulling up stakes and heading to the suburbs to build a domed stadium and surrounding entertainment complex.
Now with the biggest piece of the public funding coming into place, the plan seems as certain as ever, and fans can look forward to watching the Browns in their shiny new home starting in 2029.