Cleveland Browns Reach $100 Million Deal to End New Stadium Spat

The city of Cleveland and the owners of the Cleveland Browns reached a $100 million deal that will end multiple lawsuits and clear the way for the team to build a domed stadium in the suburbs.

The deal, announced Monday in a news conference with Mayor Justin Bibb (R) and Browns owners Jimmy and Dee Haslam, makes it more of a certainty that the team will move from the current Huntington Bank Field to a stadium in Brook Park, where it has drawn up development plans worth an estimated $3 billion. The plans have angered many local officials who want to see Cleveland continue to reap the economic benefits of having an NFL team play in the city limits.

Under the deal, Haslam Sports Group LLC will pay the city $25 million by Dec. 1 and $5 million a year from 2029 to 2033, according to the mayor and a news release. It’ll also pay an estimated $30 million to demolish the Browns’ current stadium on the shores of Lake Erie and, after the lease ends, invest at least $2 million a year over 10 years to “community benefit projects.”

In exchange, the city will cooperate with the Browns’ move to the new stadium, which it plans to have open by the start of the 2029 season.

As a result of the deal, which still needs to be formally memorialized, the Browns and city will end three lawsuits.

Cleveland sued in state court under Ohio’s “Modell Law,” which says a professional sports team that uses a tax-supported stadium can’t stop playing most of its home games there unless the city where it’s located agrees. Under the law—named after former Browns owner Art Modell, who moved the team to Baltimore in 1996—the team can also give the city six months’ notice of its plans to vacate and the chance for the city or local residents to buy it. New owners restarted the franchise in Cleveland in 1999.

The Browns also sued in federal court to invalidate the law. However, lawmakers also tweaked that law in the current budget to have it only apply to teams moving out of state. A third lawsuit filed earlier this month challenges the Ohio Department of Transportation’s approval of the height of the proposed new stadium, which is slated to be near Cleveland Hopkins International Airport.

Win-Win

Bibb and Jimmy Haslam framed the deal as a win for both sides and said it allows for more development in Cleveland.

“Today starts a new chapter where we’re going to have a world-class lakefront that we can use every single day of the year, that will make our city, our region, and hopefully the nation soon, really proud,” Bibb said at the news conference.

Jimmy Haslam reached out to Bibb a couple of weeks ago to negotiate, the mayor said. The pair met Oct. 10, “had two Cokes,” and reached the deal, he said.

There are at least two other lawsuits pending over the move, including a proposed class action over Ohio officials’ plan to use $600 million from the state’s unclaimed property fund to help pay for the new stadium’s construction.

The lawsuit was originally filed in state court but was re-filed earlier this month in federal court in Columbus.

The Browns are represented by Thompson Hine LLP and Wachtell, Lipton, Rosen & Katz. The city is represented by Jones Day and in-house.

The cases are Cleveland Browns Football Co. v. Cleveland, N.D. Ohio, No. 1:24-cv-01857, settlement announced 10/13/25, Cleveland v. Haslam Sports Group LLC, Ohio Ct. Com. Pl., No. CV-25-110189, settlement announced 10/13/25, and City of Cleveland, Dep’t of Port Control v. Ohio Dep’t of Transportation, Office of Aviation, Ohio Ct. Com. Pl., No. CV-25-125761, settlement announced 10/13/25.