The nonprofit that owns Progressive Field and Rocket Arena has nearly used up the $40 million it received from Cleveland and Cuyahoga County taxpayers 18 months ago for repairs at the two sports facilities.
Without that money, Gateway Economic Development Corp. will have only a trickle of repair dollars left, not enough to cover ongoing needs that it is required by its leases with the teams.
It’s another reminder of the dilemma that has weighed on taxpayers and city and county leaders since the ballpark and arena were built in the early 1990s. How should Northeast Ohio pay to fix up its professional sports stadiums?
Gateway uses proceeds from the county’s tax on alcohol and cigarettes to pay for repairs at the ballpark and arena. Voters have renewed and extended that tax over the years.
But costs of repairs have outstripped revenues. Recent projects include broadcast equipment replacements at the arena and upgrades to the ballpark’s air handling units.
Because of ongoing repair costs, local leaders had to dig deeper in late 2024 to come up with more money beyond the sin tax. The city and county slated $40 million to be split between the two facilities. Now those dollars are almost all spoken for.
“We do not currently have any available funds for capital repairs at the Arena,” Gateway Executive Director Todd Greathouse told Signal Cleveland in an email.
The Cavaliers are fronting money for a current repair project and would be paid back, he wrote.
There is still more than $6 million available for new work at the ballpark — but not for long. Gateway’s board of city and county appointees could approve additional repairs as soon as July 15 that will claim most of that money, according to Greathouse.
After that, Gateway will have about $4.5 million in sin tax and other money available for further repairs each year under the Guardians’ 2022 lease. But that sum “is not enough to cover the projected annual capital repair needs at the Ballpark,” Greathouse wrote.
Millions in ballpark repairs on deck for Gateway this summer
The ballpark and arena have been a taxpayer responsibility since before they opened in 1994. Cuyahoga County’s sin tax originally paid for construction debt. Today it covers repairs at Cleveland’s baseball, basketball and football stadiums.
The tax raises roughly $13 million a year, an amount that has been spread thin as construction costs rise and repairs at the three facilities mount.
At the end of 2024, Gateway asked for city and county help. The city moved money around from other projects and dipped into its General Fund surplus to supply $20 million. The county issued bonds and used interest income to come up with another $20 million.
Upgrades to Rocket Arena’s broadcast control room and elevators used up the basketball facility’s half of the $40 million from the city and county. The Cavaliers have advanced $4.5 million to finish the elevator project, “subject to future reimbursement,” Greathouse wrote. That’s the only current arena project, he wrote.
The arena’s share of the sin tax is tied up in paying off bonds that were issued for previous repairs. Sin tax revenues will become available again in 2028, but they won’t be enough for the arena’s needs, he wrote.
Two ballpark projects could be in the lineup at Gateway’s July board meeting. One is a $3.2 million upgrade to the East Ninth Street pedestrian ramp. The other is an almost $3.4 million elevator modernization project. Both were on Gateway’s agenda for a first reading in April.
There is still cash available for previously approved ballpark repairs expected through next year, Greathouse wrote. But those two newest items will use most of the remaining uncommitted dollars.
Gateway has found ways to stretch its money in the past. Last year, the nonprofit used leftover money from a heating and cooling project to update the servers that control Progressive Field’s scoreboards.
Pressure is on local officials, teams to find new money for repairs
Ideas for shoring up Gateway have been circulating, but area leaders don’t appear to have settled on an answer yet.
The latest repair funding proposal comes from Cuyahoga County Council Member Michael Gallagher. He introduced legislation this week to set aside for the Guardians, Cavaliers and Browns an estimated $25 million annual share of the sales taxes the county already collects.
Gallagher told Signal Cleveland that he had also been approached by a team about the idea of raising the county’s sales tax rate by 0.15 points, as first reported by Cleveland.com. He declined to say which team.
The Strongsville Republican called that idea “absolutely insanity,” saying that voters in his district wouldn’t go for a tax hike.
“They’ve had it with taxes,” Gallagher said.
Cleveland City Council President Blaine Griffin said the teams hadn’t spoken to him yet about the idea of raising the sales tax. City Council wouldn’t have a direct say in the county’s sales tax rate; that decision typically belongs to County Council and the voters.
Gateway’s financial needs are no surprise to Griffin, however. He said Gateway had previously told him that it expected to be out of money for new repairs by the end of 2026 or start of 2027.
“That’s one of the things we have all been discussing,” Griffin said. “This bill is coming up, how do we pay it?”
So far, there were “no concrete proposals on the table,” he said.
The Bibb administration had floated the idea of creating a special district around the ballpark and arena to collect fees from area businesses. The idea of asking voters to quadruple the sin tax received a cold reception from state lawmakers, Cleveland.com reported.
Meanwhile, the teams applied for helpings of state money from Ohio’s pool of unclaimed funds. That funding source is caught up in litigation over plans to tap it for the new Browns stadium in Brook Park.
If the Guardians and Cavaliers have other ideas for paying Gateway’s bills, they aren’t saying yet. The teams issued a joint statement that left the question wide open.
The Cleveland Cavaliers and Cleveland Guardians remain deeply committed to downtown Cleveland, as well as to our partnership with the City of Cleveland and Cuyahoga County in preserving Rocket Arena and Progressive Field as premier community assets. We are grateful for the leadership and collaboration of our public partners as we work together to ensure these iconic venues continue to inspire community pride, foster vibrancy and strengthen the region’s economic vitality.
