Cleveland is expected to raise $260 million over the next twenty years to renovate its three sports stadiums. While that plan has already been set in motion, the elected officials of Cuyahoga County have not decided how to divvy up the money between the three stadiums.
Enter Cuyahoga County Executive Ed Fitzgerald, who has the brilliant publicity stunt idea of tying 20 percent of the payout to how much the Browns, Indians and Cavs win each season:
“We love these teams, we’re loyal to these teams and we’re committed to maintaining these facilities. But we can also try to demand to get something a little bit better than we’ve gotten over the past 50 years,” FitzGerald said.
Of course, Fitzgerald hasn’t formulated a plan for how to convert wins into tax money but it’s the thought that counts.
On the one hand, getting privately owned teams to shoulder more of the burden of upkeeping their own facilities is a good idea. On the other hand, do we need to make the Dawg Pound any more depressing by tying the upkeep of FirstEnergy Stadium to wins on the field? That seems cruel.
