Bill: Taxpayer money OK for stadiums of winning teams, not losers

By J.D. Davidson
The Center Square

 An Ohio lawmaker doesn’t want to stop taxpayers from paying for all professional sports stadiums. He only wants to ban it for the losers.

As House Republicans continue to push $600 million in taxpayer funds to the Cleveland Browns for a new stadium in Brook Park, Sen. Bill DeMora, D-Columbus, plans legislation that would ban public money from going to professional sports teams unless they’ve had a winning record in three of the previous five seasons.

That would knock out the Cleveland Browns.

“For too long, Ohioans have been held hostage by these professional sports teams and their billionaire owners,” DeMora said. “I am tired of hearing year after year that if the government doesn’t fork over taxpayer money, then the team is going to move out of state! This legislation would stop that cycle. If a team wants to get taxpayer money, then the least they can do is have a winning season, and if they decide that they want to move, then the people of Ohio deserve their money back.”

New teams would be exempt from the winning requirement but must be competitive before asking for public money. Teams would also have to report publicly on athletic performance and financial requests. The proposed bill would also require teams to pay back any taxpayer money if they leave the city.

The Browns, who are planning to leave downtown Cleveland for a suburb, last had a winning season in 2023 and have had two seasons above .500 in the last five years. Before 2020, the Browns posted 13 consecutive losing seasons and have had one playoff win since rejoining the league in 1999.

The Cincinnati Bengals have had four straight winning seasons, including a Super Bowl appearance in 2022. Before 2021, however, they had five straight losing seasons.

House Republicans included the $600 million in their proposed state budget. The Browns want another $600 million in taxpayer funds from Brook Park before kicking in $1.2 billion of their own for the $2.4 billion covered stadium.

Republicans likened issuing a $600 million bond to the Browns to doing the same for splash pads in other local communities.

The Browns have promised new tax revenue will cover the costs of the bonds, but J.C. Bradbury, a professor at Kennesaw State University and an expert on publicly funded stadiums around the country, disagrees.

After extensive study of stadium finance deals, Bradbury says new tax revenue rarely occurs once projects are finished. Instead, the deals swap one set of tax revenues for another.

Bradbury’s studies have shown the overall tax base does not rise.

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