Lawsuit challenges plan to use unclaimed funds for new Cleveland Browns stadium

Ohio Republicans’ strategy for funding a new domed stadium for the Cleveland Browns using residents’ unclaimed funds violates multiple provisions of the state and federal constitutions, according to a class action lawsuit filed in county court.

Former Ohio Attorney General Marc Dann and former state Rep. Jeffrey Crossman, both Democrats, filed the expected legal action in Franklin County Common Pleas on Monday on behalf of three named Ohio residents, as well as all other individuals whose unclaimed funds were being held by the state as of June 30, 2025. They have asked the court for an injunction stopping the plan.

The lawsuit argues that taking money from the state’s Unclaimed Funds Account to pay for the stadium that Haslam Sports Group is planning for suburban Brook Park, south of Cleveland, violates constitutional prohibitions against taking people’s private property for government use, as well as citizens’ due process rights. The city of Cleveland has fought the plan.

The litigation challenges specific provisions in the state’s two-year, $60 billion operating budget that diverts more than $1 billion in unclaimed funds to create an Ohio Cultural and Sports Facility Performance Grant Fund and designate $600 million for the Browns as its first grant.

Republican Ohio Attorney General Dave Yost has spoken out against using unclaimed funds for such a purpose, having gone so far as to urge DeWine to veto it. However, the state’s top lawyer has said he believes the plan is legally sound.

More reading:

• Op-Ed: The Greater Cleveland Partnership picked the wrong side of the sideline
• Ohio governor signs 2-year, $60 billion budget that includes funding for football stadium
• At panel in Cleveland, experts argue public financing of sports stadiums do not yield economic benefits