CLEVELAND – The Browns’ back-and-forth battle with Cleveland over a planned move into a new suburban stadium has gone to court.
The NFL team said Thursday it has filed a lawsuit in federal court asking for clarification of the “Modell Law,” which the city has threatened to use to keep the Browns from leaving after their lease at lakefront Huntington Bank Field expires in 2028.
The team has played its games in downtown Cleveland since the 1940s, and in its current 65,000-seat stadium, which is leased to the team by the city, since 1999.
The section of state law known as the “Modell Law” says any professional sports owner that uses a tax-supported facility for home games and gets funding from the state or a political subdivision can’t leave unless it gets permission to play elsewhere or gives six months’ notice.
I am very much an NFL fan (sad DUUUVAL noises), and I think the mindset that allows wholesale franchise moves is very fucked, but I honestly just can’t get worked up over an NFL team moving to the suburbs in their existing market. It’s 8-10 dates per year, almost always on a weekend, with a culture of tailgating instead of pub-going. Then, in any way related to “civic pride” intangibles, the core city still gets most of the benefits. The city of Dallas told Jerry Jones years ago (and Clint Murchison years before then) to fuck off, but Irving and then stupid, stupid Arlington just bent over backwards. Dallas made absolutely the right decision. So did Detroit and Buffalo and Phoenix and all the others. I think it will be the same for KCMO.
Speaking of Clark Hunt, part of the issue y’all have is that the Hunts have always been a Dallas family first and foremost. Their dad just bailed first when the NFL and AFL were both losing money hand-over-fist on their Dallas franchises. The Hunts just dumped a ton of money into the suburban soccer stadium for FC Dallas, though TBF Frisco is just “Arlington Junior” and will contort themselves into the most awkward of positions to fellate a sports owner or attraction operator. The Hunts are only on the hook for 1/3 of the ~$200M in upgrades.