CLEVELAND, Ohio (WOIO) - The Cuyahoga County Executive celebrated what he called a win to start the week in response to a letter from the Haslam Sports Group last week addressing the latest with the Cleveland Browns stadium.
“It is the answer to the question of whether you need taxpayer dollars from Cuyahoga County, and they admitted they do not; that’s a win for the taxpayers of the county, and I’m proud to represent the taxpayers in that win,” said County Executive Chris Ronayne.
Ronayne said in a press conference Monday, he believes this move comes down to greed, and says he is happy HSG has “admitted” there is not a need for county funds.
He is referring to a [letter](https://www.cleveland19.com/2025/05/15/haslam-sports-group-tells-county-brook-park-project-will-happen-will-not-rely-county-support/) from the Haslam Sports Group last week addressing Ronayne and the city of Cleveland’s efforts to keep the Browns downtown and the vocal calls against the Brook Park Project.
In the letter, HSG says they “are not relying on the County’s participation to execute this project.”
Monday, Ronayne SAID why ask for the money in the first place, saying he believes it goes back to “greed and opportunism.”
“I think they’re making a generational mistake, I think they’re making a mistake because they’re not anticipating what we in the public sector have to think about,” said Ronayne.
He says that includes things like airport issues, traffic, and depletion of the downtown base.
“Keeping our taxpayers whole, protecting them from getting fleeced in a boondoggle that doesn’t make any sense,” said Ronayne, explaining why HSG’s admission of not needing county funds is a win.
As the budget vote from Ohio State lawmakers draws closer, the Haslams were [joined earlier in May by NFL commissioner](https://www.cleveland19.com/2025/05/13/nfl-commissioner-roger-goodell-meets-with-governor-dewine-others-about-browns-stadium-columbus/) Roger Goodell to talk with Governor Mike DeWine.
After the meeting, the NFL released a statement saying the Brook Park Project will have extraordinary impacts on the area.
Ronayne had a message for the league, too.
“We continue to say to the NFL, ‘Listen to your regions, listen to your metropolitan division makers, don’t be a part of boondoggles that make no sense,’” said Ronayne.
In response to the new letter from Executive Ronayne, HSG sent this statement in response:
> As we specifically conveyed to the County Executive in last week’s letter and throughout this process, an open-air stadium on the lakefront is not strategic and is only a short-term solution. The point he continues to miss is that the upside for the **public** can be far greater with the County’s partnership. We have had extremely positive and constructive collaboration within our community, with corporate leaders and with state officials who understand and support the transformative nature of this opportunity. The County Executive is correct, that due to his determination to stop billions of dollars of private investment in his own county, we had to create a construct without the County’s participation. But make no mistake, by not participating, he is not impeding this transformative solution, he is negatively impacting the growth of Northeast Ohio and the several hundreds of millions of excess dollars generated on the public side that could go towards lakefront redevelopment, the City of Cleveland and other Cuyahoga County needs.
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