The Cleveland Browns have struck a deal with Huntington Bank for naming rights of its current stadium – or a new one should they choose to relocate.
The Cleveland Browns Stadium dropped the name of its previous sponsor FirstEnergy amid a bribery scandal involving the company and state officials. It will now be known as Huntington Bank Field. The announcement comes just days ahead of the team’s season opener.
As the Browns mull a move out of Downtown Cleveland to Brook Park, Huntington Bank’s CEO Stephen D. Steinour said the 20-year deal will transfer to whichever site the team ultimately chooses when their lease on the city-owned stadium ends in 2028.
"This is like a marriage," Steinour told reporters after a Tuesday press conference. "I mean, you go into this committed, and we feel so good about Jimmy and the team here, and the values, the shared values, what they do in the community. We felt this was a natural alignment."
Neither party released financial details associated with the deal. Jimmy Haslam, who owns the team, would not answer questions about the fate of the stadium.
"I think that's a subject for another day, though," Haslam said. "I think today is about a long term partnership between what we believe are two of Ohio's premier institutions, Huntington Bank and the Cleveland Browns. That's what we want to talk about today. We'll answer those questions in the coming days."
It's a question that's top of mind for many Northeast Ohio fans and government officials. Last month, Cleveland Mayor Justin Bibb offered a $461 million incentive deal for the team to stay in the stadium. The city says they're still in negotiations.
Top Cuyahoga County officials shortly after doubled down on support for keeping the team Downtown, saying the move to the neighborhood suburb did not make "fiscal sense" after the team requested north of $600 million in public money from the county.
The team said new branding will be in place by Sunday afternoon's game against the Dallas Cowboys.
