Unclaimed funds are not available for now for stadium-arena building and renovations.
A number of sports owners in Ohio, including Jimmy and Dee Haslam, are not going to be able to get state funding for various sports projects from Ohio’s unclaimed funds to help pay down the costs of building or renovating their existing venues. Franklin County Common Pleas Court Magistrate Jennifer Hunt granted a preliminary injunction in favor of Ohioans who sued state officials who were willing to dole out money to the Haslams, the owners of the National Football League’s Cleveland Browns franchise, and others from the state’s pot of between $1.7 billion to $1.9 billion in unclaimed funds. The Ohio General Assembly allowed the state to take ownership of money that’s been sitting for at least a decade and redirect it to sports venues projects. The money from old bank accounts, insurance payouts, uncashed checks, utility deposits and other sources.
The Haslams are supposed to get around $600 million from some Ohio money pot as Ohio lawmakers agreed to put up public funding to help the Haslams build a football-stadium village in Brook Park. Other Ohio sports ownership groups want a piece of that unclaimed pool of money. The ownership wants $234 million for upgrades at its NFL stadium. The MLS’s F.C. Cincinnati is looking for $136.3 million, the National Hockey League’s Columbus Blue Jackets ownership wants $100 million, Major League Baseball’s Cleveland Guardians ownership wants $65 million, The National Basketball Associations’ Cleveland Cavaliers owner Dan Gilbert wants $40 million. The United Soccer League’s Toledo USL ownership wants $20 million. The Atomic Speedway in Waverly $14 million. Minor League Baseball’s Dayton Dragons owners want $8 million, the Toledo Mud Hens want owners $4.5 million, the Akron Rubberducks owners want $1.8 million, the Columbus Clippers want $737,000, the Mahoning Valley Scrappers owners $562,000 and the Lake County Captains owners $100,000. All will have to wait.
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