The Cleveland Browns owners have told city leadership they'll see them in court.
An attorney for the team responded to Mayor Justin Bibb's Dec. 30 letter to the Haslam Sports Group invoking the "Modell Law," which requires sports teams that play in taxpayer-funded stadiums to get permission to move from their home city or give six-month notice with a chance for the city or an investor “in the area” to offer to buy the team.
Bibb argued the owners did not yet provide the opportunity for anyone else to purchase the team as required by law as the Haslams proceed with their plans to move from the Downtown, city-owned stadium to a new, $2.4 billion domed stadium in Brook Park.
"The Browns understand that the City intends to assert legal claims in connection with those matters, as it has made clear in earlier public statements, and the Browns look forward to expeditiously resolving all of the parties' claims in the litigation pending before the Honorable David Ruiz in the Northern District of Ohio," wrote Anthony White, the attorney representing the Browns.
The city's attorney, Justin Herdman, fired back.
"The City is entitled to assurance that the Browns intend to uphold their contractual obligations, including complying with Ohio law," Herdman wrote. "Rather than assure the City that the Browns intend to comply with their legal obligations, the Browns provided no meaningful response. The City has no choice but to read the Browns' letter as a direct refusal to comply with their lease and Ohio law's requirement ... This confirms for the City that the Browns (and its owners) are directly flouting duly-enacted Ohio law as well as the Browns' contractual obligations to the City."
In October, the Browns sued Cleveland in federal court, arguing the Modell Law was unconstitutional.
Legal experts have told Ideastream Public Media the law is ambiguous, particularly the interpretation of what "in the area" means. Unlike the team's last out-of-state move, Brook Park is less than 20 miles from the current stadium.
The Haslams may be required to field offers to purchase the team, but they do not have to accept them.
The Modell Law may only delay the building of a $2.4 billion domed stadium by six months, as the law requires a six-month vacancy notice from owners to the city. The Browns estimate a three-year construction period.
The team's Downtown lease with the city ends in 2028.
Regardless, Bibb has said the Downtown lakefront master plan is proceeding "with or without" the Browns.
On Friday, the nearly half-billion North Coast Connector project secured an additional $69 million in federal grant money toward the project that will re-envision the lakefront and Shoreway through multi-modal transit, a pedestrian land bridge and more. The city has received nearly $130 million from the Department of Transportation since October.
