Jimmy Haslam, the owner of the Cleveland Browns, wants to build a futuristic football palace. The Haslam family recently unveiled the plans for a $2.6 billion domed stadium, Haslam’s Dome, aiming to revolutionize the franchise. But a shiny new dome isn’t enough to bring the NFL’s largest spectacle to Ohio. 

“Cleveland’s chances of hosting a Super Bowl seem roughly on par with the Browns’ chances of winning one,” Leila Atassi, manager of public interest and advocacy, opined. “The Haslams’ dome checks an important NFL box. But Super Bowls are less about football than corporate spectacle, and Cleveland lacks the infrastructure that spectacle demands: hotel rooms; flights; transit; and now, apparently, even promised parking. If booming Nashville needed years of upgrades to seal the deal, count Cleveland out.”

Peter O’Reily, the NFL EVP who supervises the Super Bowls, also claimed that hosting a Super Bowl demands more than just a good stadium. With the massive influx of spectators, the hosting cities need to be able to accommodate them. This stance was further amplified by Roger Goodell. 

“I have no doubt that this stadium is going to be Super Bowl quality, zero doubt about that,” Goodell said. “I think the challenge now for this community, and hopefully this stadium and this development are going to be transformative, is how the rest of the facilities in the community develop.” 

The NFL commissioner pointed out that an average of 200,000 people come in to watch the Super Bowl live. While that number is pretty good from a business standpoint, it’s hard for the hosting cities to meet the requirements on the facilities. 

While Jimmy Haslam’s vision includes expanded parking, retail spaces, and more hotels, Goodell recently suggested the city still may not have the infrastructure needed, though he didn’t completely rule out the possibility in the future.

Meanwhile, Nashville officially secured Super Bowl LXIV for 2030 after years of preparation. The city’s edge came largely from its stronger infrastructure, particularly in hotel capacity and air travel. Nashville currently offers around 61,000 hotel rooms across the metro area, nearly triple what Greater Cleveland has and expects that number to surpass 80,000 by 2030. Its airport connectivity is also far ahead, with roughly 323 daily departures to 122 destinations, compared to Cleveland’s approximately 126 departures serving around 40 nonstop destinations.

“I think the lowest we have is the high 40s for hotels,” Goodell continued. “I don’t know what the number is here; I think it’s about half that, roughly. It’s also the quality of hotels, but also the airports are a really important issue.”

But it’s not like cities can’t change to host Super Bowls. Even though Nashville is one of the cities with a high influx of tourists, the officials needed to improve the hotel rooms and increase the airport capacity before getting the green light to host Super Bowl LXIV for the new Nissan Stadium in 2030. Right now, Nashville has 61,000 hotel rooms in the metro area. And that’s already thrice as much as what Cleveland can offer. 

For now, the 2028 NFL Draft will go to Minneapolis, revolving around the Minnesota Vikings. And that leaves the possibility of the 2029 and 2030 drafts to go to the Browns. Well, they’d have to compete with other cities fighting for the same slots. 

But why is Haslem so focused on building the closed Haslem’s Dome? 

Why is Jimmy Haslem pushing for a dome-shaped stadium for the Cleveland Browns?

A dome provides flexibility that extends beyond hosting the Browns for a game on Sundays. The dome-shaped stadium can also host events like soccer and basketball matches with about 75,000 people cheering for their favorite players. Even hosting concerts and similar entertainment events becomes easier to manage inside a dome. With a closed dome structure, it’s practical to install air conditioning, surrounding speakers, and screens to give the audiences a more immersive experience. 

On top of that, it can eliminate the impact of the external weather conditions. Even the NFL demands a dome if a stadium owner wants to host the Super Bowl in a city where average game day temperatures go beyond 50 degrees. But Haslem wishes to follow Jerry Jones’ interests in making the inside of the venue feel like an outside one. 

“It’s going to be inside, but you’re going to feel like it’s outside,” Jimmy Haslem described the Browns’ new venue. “We will have the widest concourse in the NFL and the closest seats to the field, anywhere in the NFL. It’s going to be spectacular.” 

Haslam’s Dome will revolutionize the weekly game-day experience for the local fans freezing off Lake Erie. However, the city itself desperately requires a multi-billion-dollar infrastructure overhaul to ever dream of hosting a Lombardi Trophy presentation. The NFL simply refuses to compromise its massive corporate footprint for a single shiny building.