The Cleveland Browns have released a video in which they are proposing building a domed stadium in Brook Park, a suburb of Cleveland.
The cost of such an endeavor is estimated to be a whopping $3.6 billion (with a “B”). That is broken down into the cost of the new domed stadium and the provision of about 20,000 parking spaces, almost entirely in surface lots, which is is estimated at $2.4 billion; another $1.2 billion in private, stadium-area development is planned.
Let’s take a look at the video…
Ladies and Gentlemen, the #Browns present you their new $2.4B Brook Park Dome.@fox8news pic.twitter.com/PtFjIQFMB8
— John Sabol (@John_Sabol) August 7, 2024
First off, as you can see, the proposed edifice would serve to host much more than Cleveland Browns football — the video shows a soccer field, a basketball court (no doubt for potential “Final Four” NCAA tournament games), concerts and other entertainment. It looks like there would also be an outdoor venue on the stadium grounds.
This is where the future of gigantic new stadia is headed: giant (largely) taxpayer funded domes which would hold out the possibility of hosting a Super Bowl or NCAA Final Four, in addition to various other sports and entertainment. There will undoubtedly be a bazillion luxury boxes and suites, which are the true money-makers of these new buildings.
John Sabol, an Award-Winning TV Sports Anchor/Reporter & News Anchor for Fox 8 in Cleveland, has noted the similarities to other recent mega-stadiums, as well as the fact that the same architecture firm designed all four.
The #Browns proposed Dome in Brook Park looks like if Minnesota’s US Bank Stadium, Los Angeles’ SoFi Stadium & Globe Life Park in Arlington had a baby.
Not by accident.
HKS, Inc., the architecture firm Jimmy Haslam hired, is the same firm that built those stadiums!@fox8news pic.twitter.com/2DdeYPQkDf
— John Sabol (@John_Sabol) August 7, 2024
In a letter to season ticket holders Wednesday, the Browns released the first images and video of their suburban proposal. But this is by no means a fait accompli. According to this article,
“While significant work remains, the more we have explored the Brook Park option, the more attractive it has become,” David Jenkins, the chief operating officer of the Browns and Haslam Sports Group, wrote in the letter.
The message to fans comes less than a week after Cleveland Mayor Justin Bibb put a public offer on the table to keep the Browns on the Downtown lakefront. The city offered $461 million in financing for a potential $1 billion overhaul of the existing stadium, where the team’s current lease ends after the 2028 season.
There are lots of pros and cons to this new mega-stadium proposal, but in the interest of time and space, (and lack of germane-ness to the edifice itself), I won’t go over these in great detail.
And while obviously a LOT of work has gone into the Brook Park proposal, it’s quite possible the Browns are using this as leverage to force the City of Cleveland to pony up more public financing just to fix their existing stadium. While not identical, the Royals and Chiefs may be leveraging a possible move across the Kansas River into Kansas to get the State of Missouri to give more public money to those teams to keep them from moving.
If you’d like a good, in-depth reporting of the pros (and mostly cons) of this new proposal, this article is a good place to start.
Financial concerns aside, I always enjoy seeing architectural plans for new stadia, so I am intrigued by the video. But when it comes to these new mega-stadiums being financed and built, the devil is in the details. Regardless, the Browns will be remaining in Cleveland at their current stadium through at least of the end of the 2028 season (when their current lease expires). But this is definitely a first salvo in what will surely be a battle to extract more taxpayer funding for a stadium — whether it’s for upgrades to the current one or a new future mega-billion dollar edifice.
The Mississippi does not bisect the Kansas Cities, you’re thinking of St Louis.
Fixed. Thanks.
There is going to be a taxpayer revolt like there was in Virginia to scuttle the Ted Leonsis deal to move the Wizards and Capitals out of the District of Columbia.
Book it.
I don’t know that it got far enough in Virginia for a taxpayer revolt – the governor did not include the senate in discussions, so it didn’t get out of committee. A potential taxpayer revolt was brewing, but we’ll never know.
These new multipurpose “stadiums” aren’t going anywhere anytime soon. I understand the reasons behind it but I hate it. Two things stand out to me:
1. The Browns belong downtown.
2. Cold weather teams should play outdoors.
Nothing neuters Sunday football like watching a game in a Walmart distribution center. The Vikings went to four Super Bowls playing in the elements. Zero since the ran inside. Think about the Bills, Packers, Steelers, Bears, Bengals and Browns.
And then think about Indy, Minnesota and Detroit. Where would you want to be on game day?
On my couch, in front of the TV, channel flipping to watch multiple games. :)
Ironically, the Browns cited the location’s proximity to downtown as a positive reason for the site. You know as opposed to the stadium actually on the edge of downtown. I’d rather have my former season tickets on the top row of Muncipal Stadium with the wind blowing up my back over a suite in whatever this is.
For your “where would you rather” question … I now live in Indy. I go to one game every 3-4 years. I’d buy season tickets if they played in a football stadium instead of a warehouse.
Bills, Packers, Steelers, Bears, Bengals and Browns
Don’t forget the Broncos!
But yes, a thousand times yes, what you said!
Having grown up with Colts season tickets…Indy. That stadium is incredible, plus the roof and window are open on the days when it’s nice out! Trust me when I say I appreciated 71 degrees when it was freezing outside lol
Yes!
American football is made for TV. Indoors or outdoors, the only fun part of attending an NFL game is the tailgating. I haven’t been to a game in 10 years, in part because I’m not a huge football fan to begin with, but I just remember thinking, “I’d rather be on my couch,” once the tailgate ended. In person you really see how much of the game is just spend standing around waiting for the next play.
Ice hockey then baseball are the best sports to attend, followed by soccer depending on the continent. Soccer games in Europe are absolutely amazing, MLS is skippable. Basketball can be good if it’s a close game but it’s really a YMMV situation.
I’m right there too. If I could play in the NFL, I would LOVE playing in the snow and mud on the shores of Lake Erie. Plain uniforms, shirtless guys in dog masks. That’s football.
Awful, shameful. They use all those images of downtown at the start of the video, and then are like “nevermind all that, we’ll be 13 miles away out by the airport”
The surface parking lot blight is especially horrendous. And the way it is oriented, taking the subway will be a half-mile walk.
I saw some earlier conceptual renderings and they all prominently featured the downtown skyline, as if the stadium would be set just across the Cuyahoga or something. I realize it’s almost a subliminal gimmick, but they are clearly trying to get it into people’s heads that it’s not _that_ far, when anybody who lives in Cleveland will tell you that the only time they ever go to Brookpark is to pick somebody up from the airport.
Cleveland has a subway?
Its actually light rail (RTA Red Line) that has an airport and Brook Park Rd station. We call it ‘The Rapid’.
Will say it again. This country never seems to have money for any projects—except arenas and stadiums.
Do the Browns need a new stadium?
Absolutely not, but you’re talking about 32 of the most self-absorbed, absurdly wealthy people in the US (OK, 31 if you figure the Packers are community owned), many of whom haven’t done a single day of manual labor in their lives. All they see is, another owner got truckloads of taxpayer money for something new, and they start crying about how ‘they can’t compete with the rest of the league’ in this dilapidated building that’s 20 years old, and practically falling apart!!!
These days it’s just not enough that – between subsidies, infrastructure, tax breaks, and outright graft – the public is beholden to these parasites to guarantee their teams are profitable; no, they want to minimize the benefit to other businesses in the vicinity as well. It’s the ‘mallpark village’ idea, where you not just go to the game, you make a day or evening of it…. except the eateries, pubs, etc., are all owned by the same entity. So once they collect taxpayer money under the guise of ‘think of how much business it will generate for local mom-and-pop operators’, they proceed to nudge out or destroy any mom-and-pop businesses that are in the way.
The Browns stadium is in a bad location, and nightlife in the immediate vicinity is non-existent. That’s what they’re looking for; if they can’t squeeze money out of you in the stadium, they want to grab it from you around the stadium. Let Haslam and the rest pay for it themselves.
And of those 32 or 31, Haslam is easily in the top ten.
In regards to the Royals and Chiefs, the Royals need to move. Either downtown KC, or the Legends area in Kansas, is more suitable for them. People are tired of driving out to the stadium complex and have nothing to do before and after the game.
The Chief’s on the other hand either need to totally redo Arrowhead, or build where Kaufman is currently at and level Arrowhead. Either way, that complex works great for a football experience
so the browns did say they weren’t going to tap into ADDITIONAL public funds. so it most likely will be just the money they are currently getting through the CLE area SIN TAX.
It’s possible that Browns Stadium could close without ever having hosted a playoff game.
All I can think of is that there will be one more artificial turf stadium while players emphasize their preference of playing on grass. Slowly but surely moving towards all turf league, and the people that will pay the physical price continue to be ignored.
Honestly I don’t know why all NFL stadiums don’t have a roof. Especially cold weather and extreme warm weather cities.
Its coming. Just have to wait for the generations of people who are individuals with a backbone to die off. Once were gone, the automatons can do everything the hive mind dictates.
Don’t be weird.
We’re all impressed by how tough you are.
In 2023 dollars
Cleveland Municipal-$60.1 million, 8 championships
Cleveland Stadium-$518 million, 0 championships
$3.5 billion and the team just may get relegated to the MAC.
For those interested, the local reporting from a few independent Cleveland news sites on this story has been quite good. Especially by the source Phil offers in the article.
And I agree with Phil, whatever you think about public funding and NFL owner greed, these videos are a lot of fun to watch. Thanks for posting Phil!
Is it cheaper to build a stadium that looks like a Menards garden center? Between this and globe life field in Arlington, I guess we’re just designing stadiums like hardware mega marts now.
I’m sure that it costs more. You wouldn’t want to think that *we* care less about our team than *them* and skimped on a stadium, would you?
“It’ll be the finest pole barn money can buy!” *chomping on cigar and thumbing suspender strap*
Cannot wait for it to be done…
So I can watch it on TV…for Free
Im afraid to tell you that suites aren’t the cash cow anymore. Back in the days when stadiums made you million$ they were, the real deal is the billion$ that come with the real estate developments around your tax payer funded stadium.
There’s nothing wrong with the stadium they’re in now other than the owners want something new and they want someone else to pay for it.
The public NEVER gets the full value back that they give up for these projects. Nashville and Buffalo residents should be irate when their new warehouses open up.
The owners are asking the public for over a billion dollars to help the owners make MORE money and hoping the public settles for peanuts in return that will be less than what was promised.
As far as the public goes, there are no pros to these subsidies. I know it’s a radical idea, but how about we try making our sports teams and leagues operate like capitalist enterprises?
And can we please stop calling these giant flat-roofed warehouses “domes”?
Keeping up with the Joneses. Las Vegas is the envy of every owner in the current NFL so they all want these soulless megamalls with a roof and 5G wifi to accomodate modern fans who are in the stands but still want to watch the actual game on their pacifier phone. Enjoying cold, wind,, snow and rain while watching a football game with your own eyes instead of via a camera? You must be a Boomer.
Browns are on the clock now: They’re looking to be the first team to build and demolish a stadium without having hosted a playoff game in it
Don’t worry, I’m sure the Raiders will get there in time.
Disclaimer: I have no beef with Cleveland. In fact, I have a soft spot for the city. My son lived and worked there for a couple of years and we went out there a few times. My in-laws are from Buffalo and I want to see a Rust Belt Renaissance. But can we be honest? Even if Cleveland drops $3.5B on a domed Xanadu, do you think the NFL or NCAA will expand their rotation to include them? Because I don’t. The Super Bowl includes parties and stuff beyond the game, and they’re better done in Miami, Tampa, Las Vegas, LA, New Orleans and Phoenix, where it is warm and they know how to throw a bash. All these cities are chasing clout but it’s not going to get them what they want.
I’m not impressed with this possible stadium