Legal Analysis: While Ohio's Attorney General feels the timing is not yet right for Cleveland officials to use the so-called "Art Modell Law" to try to keep the Browns downtown, the city plans to move forward with pursuing its case, so we need to talk about what that could look like.
Legally Speaking, this is not about the city of Cleveland trying to buy the Browns, because that can’t happen.
The NFL bans public ownership of teams, so the city couldn’t buy the team, even if it wanted to. I know you’re probably thinking about the Green Bay Packers, which is owned by its fans. That setup dates back to 1923, so the NFL makes an exception for it.
City of Cleveland Law Director Mark Griffin knows that. He told me, “I think the Modell Law is really about private investors being able to come and purchase or make an offer for a team.”
The law (Ohio Revised Code 9.67) says Browns owners Jimmy and Dee Haslam would have to look at that offer, as long as a group can get it together within 6 months of giving notice that they plan to move. Griffin says that notice has been given, so the clock is running, from the city’s perspective.
Haslam Sports Group Chief Operating Officer Dan Jenkins told me, “Obviously, we have a clear understanding of the situation that resulted in the original creation of the Modell Law, and our current stadium efforts and desire to make a transformative investment in Greater Cleveland and the entire Northeast Ohio region could not be more different.”
This is the Haslams trying to distinguish this scenario from what happened in Columbus, in late 2018 and early 2019. That’s when the Modell Law was invoked to try to stop the owners of the Columbus Crew soccer team from taking that team to Texas. It's also when the Haslam ended up buying that team.
There are key differences between that case and this scenario involving the Browns.
With the Crew, the previous owners were trying to move the team to another state, and they wanted to do it in the middle of their stadium lease.
The Haslams want to move the Browns to a different suburb within greater Cleveland, and they don’t plan to do it until their current stadium lease is up at the end of 2028.
The City of Cleveland doesn’t seem to think that matters. But Ohio Attorney General Dave Yost does. “We don’t know what’s going to happen tomorrow, much less 4.5 years from now," Yost said. "I was in touch with the Browns organization today, seeking clarification, what’s going on, what is your timeline, and I’m convinced this is not ripe for any action. We're monitoring, we're watching it. We're aware what's going on, but everybody needs to take a deep breath. I think there’s probably quite a bit of posturing going on with regards to this negotiation."
Assuming for the moment that the Modell Law has successfully been invoked, that's not the only hurdle the city will face when it comes to keeping the Browns playing downtown.
If the city gets a group of investors together and they present an offer to buy the Browns, there's nothing in the law that says the Haslams have to accept it.
Can you force owners to sell a team, if the offer is reasonable, or even competitive? That’s the untested part of the Modell Law. We don’t know what a court would say on that question, because the Columbus Crew case was settled before it got to that point.
That’s where things will get interesting, if this case makes it before a judge.
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