COLUMBUS, Ohio – The Cleveland Browns are offering the state new assurances in their quest for $600 million in aid for a new covered stadium in Brook Park.
Browns owners Jimmy and Dee Haslam have been pursuing $1.2 billion in public aide for the $2.4 billion stadium they plan to build next to Cleveland Hopkins International Airport. They have asked the state to provide $600 million via state bonds that would be repaid with tax revenue generated by the stadium and surrounding development.
The Browns have said their projections show that tax revenue will more than cover the cost of the bonds. But Haslam Sports Group lobbyist Ted Tywang is scheduled to deliver testimony Tuesday to an Ohio House committee where he will give further assurances to state lawmakers, according to written remarks posted online.
“(Haslam Sports Group) is also willing to further de-risk the State and protect taxpayers against underperformance in our revenue projections through an up-front cash payment to the State equal to the present value of a portion of the principal balance of the State bonds,” according to Tywang’s written testimony. “While there is substantial cushion in our revenue projections to more than cover the State debt service obligations, this unique up-front payment structure would further hedge State risk and would be the most conservative state funding construct of any major sports-related development in the country.”
The details of the up-front payment were not immediately clear from the written testimony. Cleveland.com has reached out to the Browns for comment.
Separately, the Browns are asking Cuyahoga County for $600 million in bonds to be backed largely by tourism taxes from Cuyahoga County and the city of Brook Park.
This is a developing story and will be updated.
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