Ohio Can’t Move Money for New Browns Stadium, Magistrate Rules

Ohio officials can’t move money from the state’s unclaimed property fund for use on sports facilities, including a new Cleveland Browns stadium, while an underlying lawsuit is pending, a magistrate said Monday.

The preliminary injunction granted by Magistrate Jennifer D. Hunt complicates the state’s plans to give the Browns $600 million for their new stadium in the Cleveland suburbs. The stadium and corresponding development is estimated to cost more than $3 billion.

Opponents of the plan—which was codified last year in state law and includes the creation of the Ohio Cultural and Sports Facility Performance Grant Fund, consisting of unclaimed ...