In December of last year, the city of Cleveland and Cuyahoga County agreed to cough up half each of the $40 million in long-accumulated Gateway debts for the public’s contractually required repairs at Progressive Field and Rocket Arena. It was a heavy lift, and the cash-strapped county, which had to borrow $14 million for its share, is still struggling to pay off that debt — in the short term, needing “to refinance the bond notes, rolling [over] the debt in 2026 at a lower interest rate of 4.06% rather than paying it off,” cleveland.com reported last week.
And the teams will be back for more reimbursements. County Executive Chris Ronayne has “previously estimated the county is facing a total of about $130 million in outstanding maintenance projects for Rocket Arena and Progressive Field," cleveland.com reports.
That’s why the total silence from the Guardians and Cavaliers in response to Cleveland Mayor Justin Bibb’s proposal for a special financing district to help cover the repair costs is so striking -- and so wrong.
The teams make money at these facilities that are owned by and, per lease terms, substantially repaired at public expense. Surely, the Cavs and Guardians must understand that the people aren’t going to stand for multimillion-dollar public payouts ad infinitum.
That’s why Bibb’s idea is so intriguing -- to widen the net of those contributing to include those attending games and other events at these venues via a special taxing district “that could charge small fees on things like parking, food and drinks at businesses near Progressive Field and Rocket Arena. The money would go toward paying for the more expensive repairs and upgrades at the stadiums,” cleveland.com’s Sean McDonnell reports.
McDonnell found local reaction on social media to be sour, at best. But what’s wrong with having visitors shoulder part of the stadium repair costs, along with local folks?
And while, yes -- thanks in part to the Browns plan to move to Brook Park being greased by $600 million in Ohio legislature-approved taxpayer contributions -- there’s a jaundiced view about the public paying for rich people’s sports team venues. But, in this case, the public is already on the hook for Gateway repairs.
Bibb has made it abundantly clear that there will be no more bailouts by the city for repair-cost overruns at Gateway. But he also has an imaginative way to address that — by setting up a “New Community Authority,” or NCA, to augment inadequate Gateway revenues from countywide sin taxes.
And here again, thanks to the Ohio General Assembly’s many gifts to the Haslams, trying to raise more revenue via the sin tax bangs up against another poison-pill provision: Lawmakers’ authorization of a doubling of Gateway sin taxes also requires one-third to go to the Browns, even after they decamp from downtown. That would likely doom any vote, even if the added revenues would be sufficient to cover future Gateway needs — which Ronayne says they wouldn’t.
Instead of playing footsie by not even commenting publicly on Bibb’s plan, the Cavaliers and Guardians need to engage with the mayor and City Council forthwith to discuss it. Bibb’s idea may not solve the full Gateway financing problem, but it’s a start, and a start is what’s urgently needed.
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