Overview
- Judge Lauren Moore has refused the Browns’ request to dismiss the City of Cleveland’s lawsuit and to stay proceedings in Cuyahoga County Common Pleas Court.
- The lawsuit, filed by Cleveland in January, invokes the 1996 Modell Law’s requirement that teams using publicly funded facilities obtain municipal approval or offer themselves for sale before relocating.
- State lawmakers rewrote the Modell Law in June to allow sports teams to relocate within Ohio without city approval.
- The Browns’ separate federal challenge to the Modell Law’s constitutionality remains pending.
- A Cuyahoga County court official signaled that a decision on venue could arrive as soon as Friday.