NFL
Everything we know about the Cleveland Browns' new stadium on Brook Park: location, dome, capacity...
While the team’s lease at Huntington Bank Field is up in 2028, the Browns will build a state-of-the-art facility in a small city in Cuyahoga County, Ohio.
News broke early Thursday afternoon that the Cleveland Browns are moving to Brook Park, a suburb of Cleveland with a population of 18,595 in Cuyahoga County, Ohio, United States.
While the team’s lease at Huntington Bank Field expires in 2028, the Browns have decided to build a state-of-the-art facility in Brook Park.
It’s been months in the making, as rumors swirled about where the team would play in the future. Now that the Browns are moving to the suburbs, this is technically the second time the team has left Cleveland in its almost 80-year history.
After the news broke, Cleveland Mayor Justin Bibb stated in a press conference that he was deeply disappointed with the Browns team owners' decision.
Brook Park: location, dome, capacity
Jimmy and Dee Haslam, the owners of the Cleveland Browns, had previously stated that they were considering renovating the current lakefront stadium or building a new one near Cleveland Hopkins International Airport.
But following the owners' recent moves, it has been evident for months that the Haslams' preferred option is the Brook Park site.
After a stadium planning process that began in 2017, shortly after the Browns completed a $125 million upgrade to the stadium, the decision has been made to pursue a new 67,500-capacity dome with 65,000 seats. This choice ultimately led the team to the old Ford plant site on Engle and Snow Roads.
The Haslams stated that, after years of planning and discussions, they realized that without a dome, they would not attract the large-scale events and year-round activity needed to justify the public-private partnership
“The transformative economic opportunities created by a dome far outweigh what a renovated stadium could produce with around 10 events per year,” the Haslams said.