Haslams could buy Brook Park land for a stadium. Art Modell did the same thing 50 years ago
Cleveland Browns owners Jimmy and Dee Haslam are considering purchasing property in Brook Park for a new stadium. 50 years ago, former Browns owner Art Modell did the same thing. Cleveland Browns owners, Jimmy and Dee Haslam, are considering purchasing 176 acres of land in Brook Park to build a domed stadium. This move comes as they approach the end of their stadium lease in 2028 and are seeking either $1 billion in upgrades to the existing stadium or $2 billion for construction of a new stadium. The move was reminiscent of former Cleveland Browns owner Art Modell's move when Modell purchased 190 acres in Strongsville in the early 1970s, causing panic among fans and officials. Both the Haslams and Modell have stated they plan to keep the stadium downtown.
公開済み : 4週間前 沿って Lucas Daprile | [email protected], Lucas Daprile, ldaprile の Sports
CLEVELAND, Ohio – As Cleveland Browns owners Jimmy and Dee Haslam eye the potential purchase of land outside the city limits for a stadium, many Clevelanders may be feeling a sense of déjà vu.
That’s because about 50 years ago, former Cleveland Browns owner Art Modell did the exact same thing.
Earlier this week, the Haslams said publicly they are considering purchasing 176 acres of land in Brook Park to build a domed stadium. The move comes as the Browns approach the end of their stadium lease in 2028 and are seeking either $1 billion in upgrades to the existing stadium or closer to $2 billion for construction of a domed stadium, cleveland.com reported previously.
The move was straight out of Modell’s playbook. When the Browns and Cleveland worked on the terms of a new stadium lease in the early 1970s, Modell scooped up 190 acres of land in Strongsville, causing fans and officials alike to panic that the stadium could be moved from downtown.
While there are some key differences between Modell and the Haslams’ approaches, the similarities, at times, border on uncanny. We took a look through The Plain Dealer archives to see how this current situation stacks up against what was done in the ‘70s.
It started with a leak, then an announcement followed: Northeast Ohioans first discovered the Haslams were considering a move outside Cleveland when the NEOtrans blog broke a story in early February, citing three unnamed sources, saying the Haslams planned to move the stadium to Brook Park. It wasn’t until Monday that the Haslams confirmed the news, during a conversation with a handful of sports reporters.
In 1972, news broke that Modell was scooping up farmland in Strongsville.
“Art Modell, we hear, has his eye, and options, on some open land in Strongsville, off I-71,” read an article in the Sept. 2, 1972 edition of The Plain Dealer. That was the first time the words Modell and Strongsville appeared together in the paper related to the land sale. While that article ended up being correct, it also floated the idea of Modell using land owned by Baldwin-Wallace in Middleburg Heights as a potential stadium site, which obviously did not happen.
Just over a week later, Modell confirmed to The Plain Dealer that he had “options” to buy land in Strongsville as a possible stadium site.
Both insisted their purchase or consideration of land outside Cleveland was not a negotiating tactic, despite it being timed to have just that effect.
Earlier this week, Dee Haslam denied the potential purchase of Brook Park land was a negotiating ploy.
“I mean, that’s not right,” Dee said of it being a tactic. “We’ve worked really well with the mayor. We’ve been very transparent the whole time. We’re in constant contact with his team that we both want what’s best for Cleveland.”
Though Modell had already spoken publicly about the Strongsville property and was in negotiations with the city over a potential future stadium lease, he denied he was trying to use the $800,000 purchase of Strongsville farmland as a negotiating cudgel.
“I purchased the land with the thought in mind that I might want to build a stadium someday,” Modell said in a Jan. 31, 1973 edition of The Plain Dealer. “I have no deal to build one, and I’m not trying to apply any muscle to the city.”
As a side note, both the Haslams and Modell have indicated, at some point in stadium lease negotiations, they planned to keep the stadium downtown. In the Haslams’ case, that was in 2023, before news of the Brook Park option surfaced. In Modell’s case, it was after he snapped up property in Strongsville. In a February 1973 interview with The Plain Dealer, Modell uttered a line that has aged especially poorly.
“As God is my judge, my first preference is downtown Cleveland,” Modell said.
In both cases, the discussions about the future of a Browns stadium came amid larger discussions about revitalizing downtown.
In April 1973, The Plain Dealer’s sports editor penned an article that discussed the economic impact of losing the stadium and noted some at the time likened the potential loss of the stadium to Terminal Tower falling over (though he thought that was an exaggeration).
That said, the Browns stadium was also a key part of discussions about revitalizing downtown.
“It now has become generally recognized that a city is only as strong as its hub. Hence, all large municipalities now are striving mightily to revitalize their respective hubs, their downtown sections,” Plain Dealer sports editor Hal Lebovitz wrote in April 1973.
In 2024, the discussion is framed similarly.
In 2021, the Haslams released a plan detailing how a $230 million land bridge connecting the area north of City Hall to the lakefront could revitalize an area many Clevelanders have long felt was underutilized. The idea could even receive $20 million from the state of Ohio alongside federal funding.
Cleveland is also ambitiously creating a downtown tax district to pay for the overhaul of downtown and the city’s waterfronts., The plan just received approval from Cleveland City Council earlier this week.
The Haslams want an order of magnitude more than Modell wanted.
In February 1973, Modell told The Plain Dealer that in the course of negotiations he was seeking “basic, necessary things” in the $10 million stadium upgrade. Specifically, he wanted the city to “tear up every inch of the antiquated plumbing system; replace every seat in the house, build new concession stands, completely do over the restrooms, provide more parking, install a new scoreboard, running the length of the bleacher wall.”
But even that list carries a relatively tiny price tag compared to what the Haslams are seeking. When adjusted for inflation, the $10 million ask (which Modell successfully received) in 1973 equates to $72.3 million in 2024 dollars, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics’ inflation calculator.
The Haslams don’t have an exact number for how much the stadium renovation or rebuild would cost, but estimates place it between $1 billion and $2 billion.