Cleveland Browns Considering New Stadium Downtown

CLEVELAND, OH — The Cleveland Browns are reportedly exploring building a new stadium in Cleveland, according to multiple reports. The team is also mulling over significant renovations at FirstEnergy Stadium, which sits on the lakefront next to the Great Lakes Science Center.

"We’re excited for the opportunity to be part of the conversation about downtown re-development," owner Dee Haslam told ESPN. "We should be part of the conversation in a bigger way, and I think we will be."

If indeed the Browns are going to be part of the dialogue on downtown redevelopment, they're still finding their voice. Haslam said the team wants to perform an economic impact study and doesn't yet know what route it could or should take.

Notably, the team's lease at FirstEnergy Stadium runs through 2029 and it appears the Browns would look to play out the length of that contract. Any new stadium project would likely take a decade or more to come to fruition. If a project for a new stadium did develop, it would involve cooperation from city, county and state officials, according to ESPN's report.

Brand new football stadiums can be extremely expensive. Some of the newest facilities in the NFL cost nearly $1 billion to construct. When asked about funding for a new stadium, or for renovations at FirstEnergy, the team told ESPN they thought such discussions were "premature" because it's unclear what the development effort could be.

In 2014 and 2015 the facility got a $125 million facelift. Crews added video boards, a new sound system, LED and ribbon boards, and sponsor decks and escalators. When the renovations were nearly completed, in 2015, then team president Alec Scheiner told Crain's Cleveland business the facility was “on par with the newest stadiums in the NFL.”

FirstEnergy Stadium opened in August 1999. The facility has a capacity of 67,895, according to the stadium website.

It is also worth nothing that the Browns have gone 1-31 over the past two seasons. The team had five picks in the first two rounds of the 2018 NFL Draft and have made a bevy of personnel moves this off-season. If the team continues to struggle, it will be interesting to see what public support is like for a new stadium.

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Photo from Rick Uldricks, Patch