Cleveland is suing the Browns over the proposed move to Brook Park

Before it can be Cleveland Browns vs. the world, we’ll be dealing with Cleveland vs. the Browns.

The city sued the team over its proposed move from Cleveland to the domed stadium at Brook Park. The lawsuit arose under the Modell Act, which was enacted after the late Art Modell moved the Browns to Baltimore in 1996.

“The model law is clear: if you take taxpayer money to finance your stadium, you have obligations to the community it made that investment possible,” Cleveland law director Mark Griffin said in a statement, via Adam Ferise of the Cleveland Plain Dealer.

Cleveland filed suit in Cuyahoga County Common Pleas Court. As previously explainedit’s a smart game; state court judges are accountable for their decisions at the ballot box.

This is also the reason why the Browns previously filed a lawsuit seeking clarification of the Modell Act in federal court. And the first fight in the new lawsuit will be whether the first lawsuit filed by the team prevails over the city’s civil suit. The outcome of both cases could depend on it.

The Modell Act, as written, requires the Browns to provide six months’ notice before leaving Cleveland. The goal is to give Cleveland residents the opportunity to buy a team and keep it in the city. Cleveland claims the Browns violated the Modell Act by failing to provide notice or an opportunity to find a new buyer.

“The Haslam Group’s circumvention of these requirements not only undermines the trust of Cleveland residents, but also violates a law designed to protect all Ohioans,” Griffin said.

Especially Ohioans living in Cleveland.

Even if team owners Jimmy and Dee Haslam can win in court, they bought the team knowing the existence and requirements of the Model Law. The fact that they were even accused of violating it shows that they handled the situation badly, both in terms of PR and in terms of not being able to work with local officials (and the local population) who are still very sensitive to the events that led to relocation and the three-year disappearance of the local team.

Regardless of how things got to this point, the situation has now spawned two separate legal proceedings. With one more, the number of lawsuits will match the number of team wins in 2024.