COLUMBUS, Ohio (WCMH) — Many of the lawmakers responsible for deciding if Ohio will give millions to a new Cleveland Browns stadium have received donations from the owners of the NFL team.

Jimmy Haslam is the majority owner of the Browns, has operating rights to the Columbus Crew of MLS and is a co-owner of the Milwaukee Bucks of the NBA. As he seeks millions in state funding for a stadium that would move the Browns from the shore of Lake Erie in Cleveland to a $3.4 billion indoor suburban facility in Brook Park, campaign finance records show how much he and his wife, Dee, have donated to legislators with influence over the state’s budget.

The Cleveland Browns are seeking $600 million in state funding for the stadium, a request currently granted in the proposed state operating budget. Haslam Sports Group attorney Ted Tywang told the Ohio House the requested state bonds would be offset by tax and business revenue after the project’s completion. The proposal has been unwelcome among many Browns fans and politicians alike. See coverage of the proposed state budget in the video player above.

“Essentially, the $600 million in state-issued bonds would help facilitate a move that weakens one of Ohio’s largest metro areas — and benefits a single NFL franchise,” Cleveland Chief Integrated Development Officer Jeff Epstein told the House Finance Committee on Tuesday.

Financial records show in the year before the request, the Haslams gave more than $500,000 in Ohio to political action committees. According to campaign finance reports, around $134,000 of those donations directly supported state legislators with sway over stadium funding.

The largest recipient was House Speaker Matt Huffman (R-Lima). Since 2017, Huffman has received nearly $120,000 from the Haslams, more than half of which was donated in the months before the stadium funding request. In the 2024 election cycle, Huffman received $60,999.38 from the couple, despite running for the District 78 seat unopposed.

Huffman is not a member of the Finance Committee but guides the House agenda. Huffman, who has drawn criticism for asserting the state cannot afford $500 million to fund Ohio’s Fair School Funding Plan, has come out in support of funding the stadium, saying the economic impact would be worth the $600 million in bonds for the state.

“Campaign contributions do not influence policy decisions,” Huffman’s office said when asked about the Haslam donations.

The Haslams also contributed $30,999.38 to Ohio Senate President Robert McColley, whose seat was not up for election in 2024. In January, McColley said he opposed “handouts” to sports teams, saying the state would need to be paid back to get his support.

In 2024, the Haslams gave $11,250 to six members of the House Finance Committee and $30,000 to four members of the Senate Finance Committee. All but one committee member donations went to Republican legislators, the majority party in both chambers.

Most of these donations went to legislators during a noncompetitive election cycle. Eight of the 18 legislators listed in the chart above either did not run or ran unopposed in 2024, collectively earning $112,748.76 of the Haslam donations.

Ohio Gov. Mike DeWine, who has received $116,908.40 from the Haslams since 2017, said stadium funding was larger than the Browns. DeWine said professional sports teams will continue to want funding, which the state has provided for the past 50 years, but increased costs complicate Ohio’s ability to contribute.

“We value our sports teams, so the likelihood is that we will want to, as a state, contribute in the future. How’s the best way to do it?” DeWine said. “The reality is we can no longer use general fund dollars to rehab stadiums or build new stadiums. We do not have the money to do it. That money directly competes with money for education, with money we could use to help people with mental health challenges.”

Haslam teams have received state funding before. In December 2018, Ohio contributed $15 million to construction of the Crew’s Lower.com Field in Columbus’ Arena District, a project that coincided with the Haslams’ acquisition of team operating rights and was part of the plan that kept the team from relocating to Texas.

In the 2018 election cycle, the Haslams gave $16,250 total to four sponsors or co-sponsors of the bill that granted that funding. In all, the bill had 35 supporters.

Many House Democrats condemned support for the stadium on Wednesday, including Minority Leader Allison Russo (D-Upper Arlington), who received $1,250 from the Haslams. Sen. Bill DeMora (D-Columbus) introduced a bill requiring a winning record to be eligible for state funds, proposing a benchmark the Browns would not currently qualify for.

The Haslams have also been under fire for moving the Crew’s marquee home game of the season, on April 19 against Inter Miami and Lionel Messi, from Lower.com Field to the much larger Huntington Bank Field some 150 miles away. DeMora joined many Crew fans in criticizing that decision.

“Franklin County taxpayers have forked over tens of millions of dollars to build a state-of-the-art stadium only to have the Haslams spit in their face,” DeMora said. “Cleveland residents should remember this disloyalty when multi-billionaire Jimmy Haslam (whose net worth is currently estimated at $8.5 billion) comes to them asking them to pay for a brand-new stadium.”

The bill, including its $600 million Browns fund, passed the House 60-39 on Wednesday and now moves to the Ohio Senate.