Jimmy, Dee Haslam and their quest for new Browns stadium | NFL Owners Meetings Takeaways

ORLANDO, FLA. — The NFL's owners meetings in Orlando, Fla., have now come and gone. It's another milepost passed in the league's offseason on the journey back to real football being played.

During the three days in Central Florida, some of the top people in the Browns organization spoke to a small group of beat writers, including the Beacon Journal. Those individuals talking, at various points, included owners Jimmy and Dee Haslam, general manager Andrew Berry and head coach Kevin Stefanski.

Each of those individuals — or, in the case of the Haslams, duo — spent roughly 30 minutes or so answering questions that covered a wide spectrum of topics. The answers also covered the spectrum in terms of actually answering the question.

This is the first of three stories looking at the takeaways from each of those three conversations. This one centers on the most prominent — and, truthfully — the most newsworthy of the three, the Haslams.

The stadium talk was the dominant topic with Jimmy and Dee Haslam

The reality of that conversation is that there's really only one overarching takeaway: The stadium issue. It dominated much of the conversation, even leaving Jimmy Haslam to say at one point, "You don't want to talk about football now?"

Half of the conversation with the Browns owners dealt with the topic. The only other big takeaway was that, finally, there will be extensions coming for Berry and Stefanski.

The stadium topic, though, crosses lines that even that doesn't, because of the impact on even those who don't care about the Browns. Which is why two points needs to be made up front.

One, the Browns' lease expires at the end of 2028, which remains nearly four years away. So, it's not urgent, but it's still close enough that it's worth the conversation.

Two, there's no evidence at all that, if the Haslams get the new dome stadium they want, it will be anywhere other than Northeast Ohio. That could be Brook Park, but it's not going to be another case where the franchise is bolting elsewhere.

The Haslams like the thought of a new Cleveland Browns domed stadium

Those two points having been made, sitting just feet away from both Haslams as they spoke, it feels like their choice in a perfect world would be the new domed stadium. It would also, likely, be in Brook Park on the 176-acre tract of land they have an option on purchasing.

They repeatedly spoke about working with the city of Cleveland and Mayor Justin Bibb's office, as well as repeatedly talked about the lakefront and how important it is to develop that area. However, it also wasn't difficult to hear their criticisms about the current location that go beyond the actual facility and the "14, 15 times," according to Jimmy Haslam, it can be utilized.

"I think we looked at can we solve all the issues on the waterfront for our fans?," Dee Haslam said. "It’s hard to get into, hard to get out of, we have no parking. I think that was really something important for us, as how to solve those issues. And when you start thinking about what Cleveland can be and what the vision for this city is, I think we underestimate what a great place it is.

"And I think there’s an opportunity here to perhaps build a dome stadium that can transform our area. That’s something exciting to think about. We’re looking at both options. Not one option is above the other. But I do think that Cleveland deserves to be thought of as this evolving, forward-thinking, creative city as opposed to not thinking big."

Either Browns stadium option's cost will run into the billions

Big also sums up the cost. That's regardless of whether the current stadium is renovated or there's a new one built.

"I mean, this is not just a lipstick job," Jimmy Haslam said of the renovation plan. "I mean, this is a major, the stadium, you will not recognize Cleveland Brown Stadium if you saw what we're talking about doing. It'll be, it's a billion dollar project. That's a lot of money. So it'll be significantly different, significantly different."

The Haslams were asked about how Dallas Cowboys owner Jerry Jones built his own stadium in Arlington, Texas, and Los Angeles Rams owner Stan Kroenke did the same with SoFi Stadium in Inglewood, Calif. JImmy Haslam's answer gave off the impression that option one was going to be the usual option of utilizing public funds, but it also didn't seem to entirely close the door on going down a different path if that doesn't work out.

"I’ll just say this, we're in negotiation with various government entities and we'll see how things work out," Jimmy Haslam said.

Chris Easterling can be reached at ceasterling@thebeaconjournal.com. Read more about the Browns at www.beaconjournal.com/sports/browns. Follow him on X at @ceasterlingABJ

This article originally appeared on Akron Beacon Journal: Jimmy and Dee Haslam and their new Browns stadium quest