April 8 (UPI) — An Ohio lawmaker introduced a bill that would prevent poorly performing professional sports teams from receiving public funds — a potential roadblock for NFL’s Cleveland Browns, who want $1.2 billion for a new stadium.
State Sen. Bill DeMora, D-Columbus, announced Monday that he would introduce the “Public Access to Professional Sports Act.”
The bill would ban public funds from going to professional sports franchises if they don’t achieve a winning record in three of the last five seasons. The bill also would require teams that decide to leave the city in which they play to repay taxpayers for any funds they received.
“For too long, Ohioans have been held hostage by these professional sports teams and their billionaire owners,” DeMora said in a news release. “I am tired of hearing year after year that if the government doesn’t fork over taxpayer money, then the team is going to move out of state!
“This legislation would stop that cycle. If a team wants to get taxpayer money, then the least they can do is have a winning season, and if they decide that they want to move, then the people of Ohio deserve their money back.”
The bill would require a team to post at least a .500 record three times in a five-year span to be eligible for public funding. New teams would be exempt from the requirement for the first five years. The bill also seeks to mandate public reporting a team performance and financial requests.
The Browns, who went 3-14 last season, finished .500 or better just twice over the last 17 years. They had losing records in three of the last four years.
The Browns announced in October that they planned to leave their 25-year-old facility on the Lake Erie shore in Cleveland and move to a new, $2.4 billion domed stadium in Brook Park, a suburb southwest of the city, in 2029.
GOP leaders from the Ohio House included $600 million in state-backed bonds to go toward the stadium project in their proposed two-year budget. The Browns requested another $600 million in funding from Cuyahoga County.
The state budget is vetted by the Ohio Senate and requires approval from Gov. Mike DeWine, who has veto power over spending.
House members scrapped a DeWine plan to increase taxes on sports-betting companies, tobacco and marijuana sales to help fund stadium projects.
The state budget must be finalized, passed and signed into law by June 30.
