This is an Ohio taxpayer petition against providing $600 Million in state funding for the Haslam-proposed Browns Stadium. The Cleveland Browns are a privately owned, for-profit business.  

The City of Cleveland, Cuyahoga County, and Gov. Mike DeWine have all expressed opposition to the deal. Demonstrated public opposition is the best way to show our representatives that taxpayers are against using our public dollars to fund a billionaire-owned business.

Please sign this petition today if you oppose giving the billionaire Haslams $600+ million in taxpayer dollars. 

SIGN & SHARE THIS PETITION NOW TO PROTECT OHIO TAXPAYER DOLLARS.

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Issue Summary:

• Ohio lawmakers have earmarked $600 million in unclaimed funds for the Haslams to build a new Browns Stadium in Brook Park, OH, despite heated objections from Cuyahoga County and The City of Cleveland, a litany of economic objections from Ohio’s Office of Budget and Management (OBM), and an absence of demonstrated public support.
• The State is actively working against local government, ignoring public input, and prioritizing private interests over public good.
• Funding for a new stadium would create an ongoing resource drain that actively competes with schools, infrastructure, and other crucial state priorities that impact taxpaying citizens.
• The Ohio Office of Budget & Management review found the Haslam projections “inappropriately overstate” future tax revenues and “over-inflate positive impacts.”
• Additional criticism has pointed to vague and insufficient infrastructure and maintenance plans. A state-supported stadium would create an ongoing resource drain that will balloon taxpayers' $600 million upfront investment over time, opening the floodgates for decades of continued taxpayer investment.
• Project profits would flow primarily to the team’s billionaire owners. No publicly released documents suggest the state would receive any meaningful share of those profits.
• Downtown Cleveland's current stadium is only 26 years old, has a comparable capacity, consistently sells out, and drives business to locally owned restaurants, bars, and shops — generating significant tax revenue. A suburban relocation would siphon spending away from downtown’s small businesses and into the Haslams’ private project.
• Cleveland taxpayers are still paying for the current 26-year-old stadium. Its predecessor, Municipal Stadium, lasted for 65 years. If the Browns move, the public will likely also be on the hook for $50 million to $100 million in demolition costs.
• The Haslams bought the Browns for $1 billion in 2012. Today, the franchise is valued at $5.15 billion: a fivefold increase.
• The Haslams' significant political donations and potential conflict of interest between the donations and impartial taxpayer representation has sparked a media flurry: https://ohiocapitaljournal.com/2025/04/07/the-haslams-gave-big-donations-to-ohio-lawmakers-now-theyre-deciding-the-fate-of-browns-stadium/
• According to opponents of the deal, the Haslams' stadium plan socializes the cost and privatizes the profits for a leisure complex in the suburbs that doesn't benefit surrounding businesses, taxpayers or anyone except the Haslams.