Budget season is underway, and so far there’s been no reports of a proposal on the table from the Cleveland Browns, who want to build a new $2.4 billion domed stadium in a suburb of Cleveland. But the idea of state money or state-backed bonds going into that project has brought three Ohio research groups into a somewhat rare moment of unity.
Cleveland Browns owners Jimmy and Dee Haslam have said they’ll ask for $600 million from state and local governments toward the project. State lawmakers have initially been cool on the project, with Senate President Rob McColley (R-Napoleon) saying: “I’m not in favor of something that would just simply be a handout. There would have to be an ability to be paid back
Cleveland has offered $461 million for renovation of the existing stadium.
“We’ve taken a look at a lot of stadium proposals over the years, and we’ve never been supportive of any of them,” said Greg Lawson, a research fellow at conservative Buckeye Institute. “When you look at a lot of the literature that’s out there, the academic literature from a lot of economists, what they and almost invariably say is these don’t really end up with true benefits.”
