Gov. Mike DeWine's budget plan includes gaming tax hike to boost Ohio sports facilities, including new Cleveland Browns domed stadium
CLEVELAND — With several professional sports teams in Ohio, including the Cleveland Browns, looking for assistance in building or renovating their facilities, Gov. Mike DeWine is proposing to raise the tax on gaming to help provide increased funding.
During his rollout of the budget for fiscal years 2026-27 on Monday, DeWine announced his plan to double the sports gaming tax in Ohio to 40%, creating the Sports Facilities Construction and Sports Education Fund in the process.
The additional tax increase could generate anywhere from $130 million-$180 million per year. The current allocation from the sports gaming tax for education in the state would not be touched.
Once enacted, DeWine explained the fund could be used to help fund professional sports facilities for major and minor league teams statewide. It could also be allocated to support youth sports education and other school extracurricular activities.
"Our citizens are giving every single day millions of dollars to the sports gaming companies," DeWine said. "It's time for use to raise the tax on them so we can do things to help Ohioans."
So who would decide how the money is spent?
DeWine explained that the Sports Facilities Construction and Sports Education Fund would be run by a commission whose members would be appointed by the governor and Ohio General Assembly.
In DeWine's proposal, the state's share of a sports stadium would be capped at 40%.
"These sports gaming (companies) are extremely aggressive. They're in your face all the time. They're getting Ohioans to lose massive amounts of money every year," DeWine stated. "And it seems to me only just and fair that some of the stadiums be paid for by a portion of it and it also seems fair that the young people that they're targeting will get some benefit by playing sports."
The announcement by DeWine comes as the Browns are seeking to build a new $2.4 billion domed stadium in Brook Park. The Haslam Sports Group has previously stated its intention to pay $1.2 billion, which does not include another $1 billion for the entertainment district surrounding the stadium. The other $1.2 billion would come via public money, although a specific public-private funding plan has not yet been announced.
According to a spokesperson for Ohio Senate Minority Leader Nickie Antonio (D-Lakewood), the Haslam Sports Group is looking for the state to cover around $600 million of the $2.4 billion price tag.
Could DeWine's plant to hike the sports gaming tax provide enough money to cover that price?
"It certainly could be," the governor said on Monday.
On Tuesday, 3News' Kaitor Kay asked the Haslam Sports Group for thoughts on DeWine's proposal and any potential impact on the Browns' stadium plans. Here was the statement from Dave Jenkins, Chief Operating Officer of the Haslam Sports Group:
"We appreciate Governor DeWine's commitment to looking at creative ways to solve sports facilities development while positively impacting youth sports throughout Ohio. We look forward to learning more about the options this legislation may provide. At the same time, we continue to work with the appropriate stakeholders and other experienced experts to develop alternative funding mechanisms for an enclosed Huntington Bank Field in Brook Park, knowing the importance of not tapping into existing taxpayer funds that go to other pressing community needs. The model we've proposed on the state level would leverage only the incremental tax revenues from within the development itself to enable the project. The Brook Park Huntington Bank Field project is more than just a stadium. Combined with the adjacent mixed-use development, which would be enabled by approximately $2B in private investments, this $3B+ economic development project would be among the largest ever in Northeast Ohio. It truly is a generational opportunity to create a robust, revenue-generating district that will bring in new jobs and new visitors to our region and significantly impact our economy."
State Senator Kent Smith (D-Euclid) said the Haslams' vision has big advantages and hopes the potential new funds can help.
"I was very encouraged by the governor's source of the revenue," Smith expressed. "And I think it suggests that there's a lot of different ways that we can help support this large private investment that the Haslam Sports Group is willing to make."
For the moment, Huntington Bank Field is still along the lakefront, sitting in the district of State Rep. Terrence Upchurch (D-Cleveland), who wants the Haslams to keep the Browns in downtown Cleveland.
“I want them to stay in the city of Cleveland and stay in the 20th House District,” Upchurch said. "It does no good for my district or for the people of Cleveland, which is most important. And listen, I appreciate the governor looking to be helpful in the process, but this is a lot of money we're talking about, and there's just a lot of areas where I think that that money could be spent better suited for the people of Ohio."
Upchurch added that he has nothing against Haslam Sports Group.
"I commend the work in the community that Mr. (Jimmy) Haslam has done," Upchurch said. "Mr. Haslam lives in my district. He's a constituent of mine. But my plea to him would be to really take a second look at the city of Cleveland and come back and work with the mayor and the county executive.”
3News also got reaction to DeWine's proposal from the city of Cleveland. Here's a statement from city spokesperson Tyler Sinclair:
"Like everyone else, we just learned about the proposal last night. We’re reviewing it, but there is still obviously a lot that needs to be sorted out in Columbus as this is just the beginning of the State’s budget process.
"We are grateful to be one of only a few mid-sized cities with 3 professional sports stadiums located downtown. We appreciate the Governor’s thought process in his current proposal that sports fans across the State of Ohio should bear the funding responsibility when it comes to supporting construction and maintenance of stadiums.
"The budget process is fluid as there will be numerous deliberations in both the House and Senate in the weeks and months to come, with several revisions to the overall budget that are likely to follow before being finalized in June. A lot can happen between now and then, but the City maintains that keeping the stadium downtown is critical to our economy and lakefront development plans, and will benefit not just Cleveland but the entire region."
Other state lawmakers also weighed in on the implications of the newly proposed state funds.
State Rep. Chris Glassburn (D-North Olmsted) took a high level view of the gaming tax increase.
"I do want to underline a little bit of caution of, we started with 10% on this gaming tax then went to 20%," he said. "We don't know the full ramifications of what that did to the marketplace and to double it again, I don't know that anyone really knows what this will do.”
Meanwhile, State Rep. Tristan Rader (D-Lakewood) cautioned against any overexcitement or rushes to conclusions.
"There's no real plan yet from the governor's office or from the legislature on how that money would be spent," he said. "So, it's really important to note that we don't yet know how this money is to be spent or how it's going to be divided up.”