CLEVELAND — The Browns changed the name of their lakefront stadium while they consider changing addresses.
As they position themselves to build a possible new domed stadium, the Browns announced a 20-year partnership on Tuesday with Huntington National Bank, which bought exclusive naming rights.
Huntington Bank Field will host its first game Sunday as Cleveland kicks off the 2024 season against the Dallas Cowboys.
Financial terms of the deal were not immediately known. What is clear is that whether the NFL team renovates its current stadium or builds a proposed $2.4 billion dome in the suburbs, the name will stay the same.
“This is with the Cleveland Browns,” Huntington CEO Steve Steinour said. “So wherever the Cleveland Browns play, we are going to be there in a big way. That’s either here or a new stadium.”
The Browns’ lease at their stadium expires after the 2028 season.
The team has discussed overhauling the property with a $1.1 billion renovation, which is preferred by the City of Cleveland and Cuyahoga County. The Browns seem determined to build a dome and entertainment complex in Brook Park, Ohio — about 12 miles south.
The team would like to fund the project with a private/public partnership, but have been met with some resistance.
With the sides currently at an impasse, owners Dee and Jimmy Haslam didn’t want the stadium battle to tarnish the agreement with Huntington.
“We’ve been very explicit that this is complex, it’s complicated, it’s going to take some time, and so at the appropriate time, we’ll address that,” Jimmy Haslam said when asked for a timetable on a decision being reached. “That’s not today.”
Huntington, which is headquartered in Columbus, Ohio, will become the team’s official and exclusive banking partner.
The Haslams also own the MLS Columbus Crew, and it was during the recent All-Star weekend at their stadium when discussions began with Huntington about a partnership.
The Browns’ 65,000-seat lakefront stadium had been known as Cleveland Browns Stadium after an agreement with FirstEnergy Corp. ended in 2023. FirstEnergy’s partnership with the team came under scrutiny after the utility company admitted to paying bribes to Ohio lawmakers.
The Haslams, who have owned the Browns since 2012, feel a new stadium and entertainment complex could lure major events like a Super Bowl, Final Fours and music acts to the city, triggering development and economic growth.
County officials pushed back at those plans, arguing that moving the Browns would have a detrimental impact on downtown. The city has offered to pay $461 million toward renovating the current stadium, which opened in 1999 when Cleveland returned to the league as an expansion franchise.
Huntington also has naming rights in Columbus to Huntington Park, home of the Clippers, the Triple-A affiliate of the Cleveland Guardians. The bank also has its name on the University of Minnesota’s football stadium.
___
AP NFL: https://apnews.com/hub/nfl
