Preventing Franchise Flight: Could Cleveland
Have Kept the Browns by Exercising its
Eminent Domain Power?


I. Introduction

The sports fans of Northeast Ohio experienced the ultimate high and low point in sports enthusiasm during one week in the Fall of 1995. On Saturday evening, October 28th, 1995, Cleveland sports-fans enjoyed the thrill of watching their beloved Cleveland Indians play in Game Six of the 1995 World Series. It was the Indians' first trip to the World Series in over forty years, and the fans were simply in love with the city and its team.1 However, by the middle of the following weekend,2 the euphoria felt by the fans and the City of Cleveland would come to an abrupt, and seemingly impossible, halt.3 On Monday, November 6, 1995, Arthur B. Modell, the owner of the Cleveland Browns professional football team, stood alongside Governor Parris N. Glendening of Maryland, during a press conference in Baltimore, and announced the relocation of the Cleveland Browns to Baltimore.4

Shortly after the announcement from Baltimore, the City of Cleveland commenced a serious campaign against Modell and the National Football League ("NFL") to keep the Browns in Cleveland. Although the negotiations eventually led to a settlement agreement between Cleveland and the NFL,5 many questions surrounding the problem of sports franchise relocation problem still remain unanswered. For example, although Cleveland has apparently found a solution to the problem, the issue remains as to how many more communities will have to go through the same struggle that Cleveland faced before a final solution was reached.6 Also, because the agreement between Cleveland and the NFL only promises that a team will be located in Cleveland by 1999,7 there is no guarantee that this "new" team will be created through league expansion.8 Ironically, Cleveland may find itself in the awkward position of receiving its "new" team from another, unwilling city which simply may not be able to meet the demands of its current team owner.9 For these reasons, the issues surrounding the relocation of the Browns warrant further discussion.

The Browns leaving Cleveland is by no means a unique situation in today's world of professional sports.10 Yet despite the impact that franchise relocation has on a city,11 no professional sports league or politician has been able to provide stability to the cities and fans, who appear subject to the whims and demands of the team owners.12 Although cities have tried to find creative ways to keep these teams from jumping from place to place,13 it would appear the only way for this sort of stability to enter into professional sports is through congressional legislation.14

One method that is occasionally advanced to provide this desired stability is the power of eminent domain.15 It has been argued that because a sports franchise is actually nothing more than one form of property, it should be subject to a taking through the power of eminent domain by the "home" town, or state.16 If these takings were upheld by the courts, it would appear on the surface that the power of eminent domain would be a simple legal solution to the relocation puzzle in professional sports.

The purpose of this Comment is to analyze whether Ohio law would allow for such a taking, and to determine if such action would have solved the problem of keeping the Browns in Cleveland. In analyzing this issue and focusing on the difficulties that such a taking would create, it will be demonstrated that this taking probably cannot be achieved successfully, and that some congressional intervention is needed to rectify the franchise relocation problem.

II. Eminent Domain

The power of eminent domain is the inherent power of every sovereign government to take private property for its own use.17 Eminent domain is recognized in both the United States Constitution18 and the Ohio Constitution.19 The only limitations placed on a government exercising this power is that the owner is entitled to procedural due process,20 which means the property is to be taken for a "public use,"21 and the owner is entitled to "just compensation."22 Because these limitations are generally interpreted very loosely, eminent domain is arguably one of the most intrusive powers held by a government.23 Furthermore, the power of eminent domain can be delegated by any state to a sub-unit of the state, such as a municipalities, counties, and townships.24

In examining the power of eminent domain, the first question that arises is how to construe such a seemingly limitless power. A debate has emerged as to whether this power should be construed liberally, so that the public purpose can always be carried out,25 or whether the power should be viewed restrictively to counter the vast potential for governmental abuse.26 However, a uniform answer is difficult to reach because there is no agreed upon definition of what constitutes "public use" and "just compensation."27 As these restrictions often have varying meanings, each of these limitations will be individually examined to determine what affect they will have on the initial inquiry of whether the State of Ohio, or the City of Cleveland, could theoretically have taken the Cleveland Browns through an exercise of the eminent domain power.

A. Public Use

The first restriction on the power of eminent domain is that the property must be taken for a public use.28 Just as the debate surrounding the full power of eminent domain centers around whether to interpret the power broadly or strictly, there are also two divergent ideologies about how to interpret the public use limitation.29 One line of reasoning advocates construing the restriction narrowly, defining public use as an "actual use by the public entity or by the general public."30 The more widely accepted method, however, is to define the limitation broadly to include public benefits and advantages as public uses and to not require direct participation by a great majority of the public.31 This method of broad interpretation has been adopted by the courts of Ohio.32

The rationale behind supporting a broad definition of public use is twofold. First, because the power is an inherent power of the state,33 which the federal and state constitutions merely recognize rather than attempt to grant,34 it would appear by its very nature that the state should be able to wield the power with few restrictions.35 Secondly, because public use has been defined broadly by many courts,36 and specifically by the United States Supreme Court,37 it would only seem logical that every state would want its government to have as much power as it may need to carry out its goals and objectives. In light of several cases giving deference to the legislature's determination of public use, it is accurate to say that the public use limitation is really no limitation at all.38

In Breman v. Parker,39 a parcel of commercial real estate in Washington D.C. had been condemned by a local statute, which provided for the redevelopment of substandard housing in run-down areas.40 The owner argued that his property was being taken wrongly for a non-public use because the District of Columbia planned to re-convey the property to a private owner who would use the land for commercial purposes.41 The United States Supreme Court, however, held that such a use of the eminent domain power did not violate the Fifth Amendment of the Constitution.42 The unanimous Court stated that Congress had discretion to determine whether the taking was for a public use.43 Here the Court adopted an extremely broad view of the public use requirement, implying that even a mere aesthetic purpose may constitute a public use.44

The Supreme Court recently revisited the issue in Hawaii Housing
Authority v. Midkiff.45 Here, the dispute revolved around the Hawaii Land
Reform Act of 1967, which allowed for persons renting homes in development tracts of five or more acres to condemn their landlord's interest and acquire their own fee simple interest in the land.46 Although the Court justified its decision on the fact that a great majority of Hawaiian land was owned by a small group of private individuals,47 the Court reaffirmed the Breman Court's decision in recognizing a legislature's power to declare the public use.48

Two other state court decisions that have made a great impact in broadening the public use definition in eminent domain proceedings are Poletown Neighborhood Council v. City of Detroit,49 and City of Oakland v. Oakland Raiders.50 In Poletown, the General Motors Corporation ("GM") informed the City of Detroit that it planned to relocate many of its Detroit-based manufacturing plants if the City could not provide new plant sites for the corporation.51 In response to GM's intentions, the City of Detroit planned to condemn a 465-acre tract of land so that it could sell it to GM on very favorable terms.52 Several residents whose shops, homes, and churches were located in the area to be condemned formed the Poletown Neighborhood Council and challenged the taking via the public use limitation.53 The Michigan Supreme Court upheld the condemnation proceedings by finding the taking to be a legitimate public use, based on the proposed benefits that it preserved jobs and tax revenues, and helped prevent the social deterioration that accompanies industrial shutdown.54

In City of Oakland v. Oakland Raiders,55 an eminent domain action was brought against the Oakland Raiders professional football team.56 The Raiders had been playing in the Oakland-Alameda County Coliseum pursuant to a lease agreement that was entered into in 1966.57 When the Raiders failed to exercise a renewal option on the lease for the upcoming 1980 season, and announced their intentions of moving to Los Angeles, the City of Oakland commenced an eminent domain proceeding against all the rights associated with the professional football franchise.58 Although the California Supreme Court did not decide whether such a taking met the public use requirement, the court held that it was possible for the City to demonstrate that there was a public use in taking the football team.59 The court reached this conclusion by first recognizing that the public use limitation had been defined in a variety of ways,60 then by pointing to other decisions that expressly recognize recreational purposes as legitimate areas of public interest for condemnation proceedings.61

All of these cases point to the conclusion that the public use requirement is broadly interpreted, with the courts giving much deference to legislative decisions regarding these matters. As stated before, Ohio is no exception to the majority rule of broad interpretation62 and legislative discretion.63 Furthermore, as discussed in City of Oakland, Ohio also recognizes that recreation is a legitimate goal in meeting the public use requirement in eminent domain.64 Thus, it appears that the taking of the Cleveland Browns professional organization would have met the public use limitation of eminent domain. If the Ohio legislature had decided to use the power of eminent domain to take the Cleveland Browns football organization, the public use limitation could have easily been met by an express declaration of what public purpose the taking would serve. As long as it was demonstrated that some public purpose was being carried out, such as maintaining jobs or the other economic benefits the team brings to Cleveland,65 the eminent domain proceeding would not fail for lack of public purpose.66 Regarding whether the City of Cleveland, itself, could meet the public use limitation and use the power of eminent domain against the Cleveland Browns organization, further discussion is required.

Absent any express legislation by the Ohio legislature giving the City of Cleveland the power to take the Browns through eminent domain, the City could have only succeeded in such a taking by relying on its own authority, recognized by the Ohio Constitution.67 The Ohio Constitution, however, has been interpreted as granting the power of eminent domain to municipalities through the clause that gives municipal corporations "all powers of . . . self government."68 This grant includes the right to exercise the power of eminent domain for the purpose of parks and recreation centers.69 Therefore, the City of Cleveland should have been able to use its own power of eminent domain to take the Browns, and through an expressed recreational purpose,70 the City would have been able to meet the public use requirement of such a proceeding.

B. Just Compensation

Although it has been demonstrated that a taking of the Cleveland Browns by the State of Ohio or the City of Cleveland could meet the public use requirement of the state's eminent domain power, the just compensation issue must also be discussed. Both the federal71 and state72 constitutions require that just compensation be provided to any individual whose property is taken through the power of eminent domain in order for the taking to be legal.73 Therefore, it must be noted that, despite any legitimate purpose that can be used to rationalize a taking of the Browns football organization, the current owners of the organization must be justly compensated to validate the proceedings.

It is generally agreed that the standard measure for just compensation is the "fair market value" of the taken property.74 However, problems tend to surface in determining the fair market value of certain property, depending on the type of property being taken.75 The United States Supreme Court recently addressed the problems associated with making this determination in United States v. 564.54 Acres of Land.76 In this case involving the taking of certain land owned by a non-profit organization, a unanimous Court stated that the goal of the Fifth Amendment's Just Compensation Clause is to "put the owner of condemned property 'in as good a position pecuniarily as if his property had not been taken.'"77 The Court determined that this value would be the fair market value of the property.78 By accepting this standard as the appropriate measure of compensation, the Court rejected a method of determination that would have been more sensitive to the property's value to the private owner or the government taker.79

This objective market value is not only accepted by the federal courts, but it is generally the measure of compensation required by the courts of Ohio as well.80 Specifically, Ohio defines the fair market value as the price that would be agreed upon at a voluntary sale by a willing buyer and willing seller.81 Ohio also focuses on an objective standard and rejects a subjective value placed on the property, such as the willingness or non-willingness to part with the property,82 or any sentimental value placed on the property by the owner.83 Finally, it should be noted that according to the Ohio Constitution, the determination of what is just compensation is left to a jury.84 With these specifics in mind, we can re-focus on our inquiry regarding the prospect of an eminent domain taking of the Cleveland Browns.

Because the nature of the just compensation aspect of an eminent domain proceeding is more of a precondition to the validity of the act, rather than a serious limitation to the power, this element would have presented no legal obstacle to a taking of the Browns organization by the State or City.85 The feasibility of such a taking would simply come down to whether it would have made good economic sense for either government to spend the amount of money that it would have taken to "purchase" the organization. The price would have been determined by what was objectively found to be the fair market value of the Cleveland Browns professional football team franchise.86 It is the position of this Comment that such a taking could have been justified in a number of ways. First, if the value of the team's presence, in terms of jobs and other revenue, was worth more to the City and State than the cost of just compensation, the money would have been well spent. Secondly, if the City spent the money to take the team, only to operate it for as long as it took to find local buyers, much or all of the money used to compensate the old owners could have been recovered in the resale to the new owners.

Having determined that a theoretical taking of the Cleveland Browns by the City of Cleveland or the State of Ohio would not have violated the public use requirement of eminent domain, and that the just compensation element could have been met by paying the fair market value of the team to the current owners, it seems our initial inquiry is resolved. However, there are two other areas of concern that require discussion before it can be said that there were no insurmountable roadblocks to such a taking. First, the nature of the property must be examined to determine whether such property is the proper subject of an eminent domain proceeding. Secondly, we must examine whether such property is located within the jurisdiction of the State of Ohio or City of Cleveland to render it available for an eminent domain taking.

C. Property Subject to Eminent Domain Proceedings

Whether the Cleveland Browns football organization could have been the proper subject of an eminent domain proceeding depends on whether the power applies to both tangible and intangible property.87 Because an effective taking of the organization would have included not only the physical possessions owned by the team, but also all of the teams contractual rights, such as players' contracts and the right to participate in the National Football League ("NFL"), such action could only have succeeded if the power of eminent domain applies to intangible property, as well as the tangible property of the franchise.

As a general proposition, the power of eminent domain applies equally to both tangible and intangible property.88 In
West River Bridge Co. v. Dix,89 the United States Supreme Court addressed this particular issue.90 The case arose when the State of Vermont attempted to condemn a toll bridge built over the West River for the purpose of creating a better road.91 The problem was that forty-four years earlier, the Vermont legislature had given the bridge company an exclusive right to build and control the bridge for the next one hundred years.92 Although the bridge company argued that its franchise rights were not real property and therefore not subject to eminent domain, the Court disregarded the argument and held that there was no distinction between intangible and tangible property rights in eminent domain proceedings.93 This rule of law was reaffirmed some one hundred years later by the Court in Kimball Laundry Co. v. United States.94

The Supreme Court of California also tackled this very issue in a case that is strikingly similar to the issue under examination in this Comment. In City of Oakland v. Oakland Raiders,95 the California Supreme Court was called on to determine whether the City of Oakland could use the power of eminent domain to take the Oakland Raiders professional football franchise and all the intangible rights associated with the team under the law of California.96 Just as the possibility of the Brown's relocation to Baltimore faced Cleveland in 1995-96, the City of Oakland was faced with the same situation in 1980, when the Raiders announced their intention to relocate to Los Angeles.97 In addressing the issue of whether it was proper to bring an eminent domain proceeding against a professional football team and all the intangible rights associated with such an organization, the court held that a football team could be the proper subject of an eminent domain proceeding.98 Although the court did not decide the merits of the case before it, the court did decide that the eminent domain proceedings by the City were not precluded by the laws of California.99 This case is important because of the strong correlation between the facts facing the California court, the facts at the center of our discussion, and the decision that directly addressed the issue that is the subject of this Comment. It is this decision that would directly support the proposition that there are no constitutional limitations that would render a professional football team beyond the power of a taking by eminent domain.100

These decisions indicate that the power of eminent domain will not be defeated by the nature of the property that is the subject of the condemnation proceedings. This rule is also recognized in Ohio, where intangible property has been held the proper subject of eminent domain proceedings.101 For example, the Ohio Supreme Court has defined property broadly stating that it is "any valuable interest which can be enjoyed as property and recognized as such."102 Because the Ohio Constitution does not limit the type of property that can be taken through the power of eminent domain, it would seem that the Cleveland Browns football organization could have been the proper subject of an eminent domain proceeding under both the state and federal constitutions.103

D. Jurisdiction

Therefore, the only remaining question is whether the tangible and intangible property that makes up the football organization is located within the jurisdiction of the City or State, so as to subject it to the power of these entities to bring such an action.104 By its very nature, the power of one state to condemn property through an exercise of eminent domain is exclusive of the power of another state being able to condemn the same property.105 Otherwise, conflicting judgments would certainly create numerous problems as to who has the superior power and ability to take certain property. Because this discussion centers on the use of the eminent domain power on certain intangible property, which by definition has no physical substance or form,106 it is important to review the rules of location for intangible property to determine whether the Browns organization was subject to the eminent domain jurisdiction within the State of Ohio.

Although it has been said that "no clear guidelines exist to provide rules for the exercise of eminent domain over intangibles,"107 a few rules have been advanced, either directly on point108 or by close comparison,109 which provide some guidance in making such a determination. One such case in this area is Mayor and City Council of Baltimore v. Baltimore Football Club Inc.,110 which is factually very similar to our case.

In Mayor and City Council of Baltimore, the court was faced with determining a number of issues associated with the power of eminent domain, and the jurisdiction over the intangible property of a professional football organization.111 The case centered on the attempts of the City of Baltimore to take the Baltimore Colts football team after the team decided to relocate to Indianapolis, Indiana.112 On February 1, 1984, Robert Irsay, the infamous owner of the Colts, began to consider moving his team to Indianapolis after his attempts to reach a new leasing agreement with Memorial Stadium in Baltimore failed.113 When Maryland officials learned of the possible relocation, the state legislature introduced a bill that would give Baltimore the authority to seize the Colts' organization through the power of eminent domain.114 On March 28, 1984, Irsay found out about the legislation authorizing the City to condemn his team, and immediately decided to accept the deal with Indianapolis and move his team out of Baltimore.115 During the night of March 28th, the team's physical possessions were loaded onto Mayflower moving vans, and by the morning of March 29, the equipment was headed for Indianapolis.116 These facts are important because the legislation authorizing the Baltimore eminent domain action was not officially enacted until March 30, 1984.117 Quickly thereafter, the battle commenced as to when the City had the power to condemn the Colts and whether the Colts' organization was within the State's jurisdiction at the time the City had the power to bring such a proceeding.118

The court began its inquiry by determining that, as a general rule, the proper time for determining the location, or situs,
of the intangible property was at the time compensation was made to the owner for the property, and not at the time when the condemnation proceedings began.119 Next, the court reviewed a number of standards used for determining whether the situs of the property was within the state's jurisdiction so as to render it subject to taking. The court rejected using a "minimum contacts" test because of the exclusive nature of eminent domain jurisdiction, which is completely ignored under a minimum contacts analysis.120 Instead, the court looked to two other sources for reaching a determination of the issue before it.

First, the court looked at factors recited in City of Oakland v. Oakland Raiders,121 in order to determine the situs of a professional football organization.122 These factors included the "principal place of business" of the team, the "designated NFL-authorized site for the team's 'home games,'" and the "primary locale of the team's tangible personalty."123 In applying these factors to the case before it, the court found it extremely important that on March 30, 1984, most all of the Colts' physical possessions were out of Maryland and the team was no longer conducting any business from within the state.124 The court also pointed to the fact that on March 2, 1984, the NFL, although aware of the possible move by the Colts to Indianapolis, officially decided not to get involved with trying to stop the move.125 For these reasons, the court felt that under the guidelines listed in City of Oakland, the Colts were beyond the jurisdiction of Maryland on March 30, 1984.126

The court did not stop its analysis with the application of the above mentioned factors, but went on to analyze the situation under the rules applied to escheat intangible property.127 Because of the similarity between escheat proceedings and condemnation proceedings, the court felt it was appropriate to review the guidelines produced by the U.S. Supreme Court for determining the situs of intangible property in escheat proceedings.128 First, the district court recognized the exclusive nature of escheat proceedings and analogized it to the situation in condemnation proceedings.129 Then the court focused on the bright-line test created by the Supreme Court, which states that "the power to escheat intangible property could be exercised only by the state of the owner's last known address."130 The court concluded that the analogy between escheat and eminent domain proceedings was only beneficial in recognizing the exclusivity of the proceedings.131 However, the analogy lost its usefulness before the Supreme Court's bright line test for determining situs could be used because here, unlike escheat proceedings, the owner's location could be determined at all times.132 Therefore, it was primarily the factors cited by the City of Oakland court, which the court used to reach the conclusion that the Colts' franchise was beyond the jurisdiction of Maryland, even at the commencement of the eminent domain action on March 30, 1984.133

Although other tests have been advocated for determining the situs of intangible property for the purpose of eminent domain,134 it appears the factors used by both the California court and the Maryland district court, are the most appropriate advanced thus far, and upon which this Comment will analyze the Browns situation.135 First, regarding the principal place of business for the organization, Cleveland was the NFL designated home of the Browns since 1950136 and the team's headquarters were located in Cleveland.137 Moreover, all of the team's physical possessions, such as training equipment and other belongings, were kept and located at the Brown's new training facility in Berea, Ohio.138 Because these factors would be used to determine the situs of the team for purposes of eminent domain jurisdiction,139 it appears that the Browns would have been well within the jurisdiction of the State of Ohio, provided that the State or City acted before the team physically left the jurisdiction.140

E. Summary

The power of eminent domain is a broad and sweeping power that is subject to few limitations.141 The power is expressly limited by the ability of the government taker to show that the taking has been conducted for a public purpose, and that just compensation has been made to the private owner.142 While the public purpose limitation has been interpreted loosely by the courts, who often defer to the judgment of the legislature for the purpose of the taking,143 the just compensation requirement can be met when the government actor pays whatever value the property is determined to be worth.144 Since neither of these limitations would have seemed to bar a proposed taking of the Cleveland Browns' football team, the only other real limit on the power of such a taking would have been based on a challenge to the jurisdiction of the State over the intangible property at issue.145 However, despite the seemingly unstoppable ability of a government to take such property as a professional football team, the inquiry does not end with a discussion of the limits of the eminent domain power. Other considerations are lingering in the background that need to be addressed before the feasibility of such a plan can truly be evaluated.146

III. The Commerce Clause

The Constitution of the United States grants Congress the power to regulate commerce among the states.147 Because Congress was given the power to maintain a uniform economy throughout the nation, the Commerce Clause has been interpreted to mean that state interference with interstate commerce can be restricted expressly or by implication.148 First, Congress can expressly set regulations in an area of interstate commerce, whereas no state can enact legislation that conflicts with the federal law.149 Furthermore, if a state law conflicts with a federal law,150 or if a federal regulation "so thoroughly occupies a legislative field" that there can be no doubt that Congress alone means to control that area,151 any state law will be pre-empted by the federal law.152 Finally, the courts have interpreted the Constitution as implying that individual
states cannot enact legislation that burdens interstate commerce, even when there is no specific federal legislation in a specific area.153 This is know as the "dormant commerce clause" theory.154

Through the dormant commerce clause, the United States Supreme Court has found that any state legislation which has economic protectionism as its goal to be invalid per se.155 However, when the state has a legitimate goal behind such protectionism and the legislation only incidentally burdens interstate commerce, the Court has formulated a balancing test to determine the constitutionality of the legislation.156 In Pike v. Bruce Church, Inc.,157 the Court stated that "[w]here the statute regulates evenhandedly to effectuate a legitimate local public interest, and its effects on interstate commerce are only incidental, it will be upheld unless the burden imposed on such commerce is clearly excessive in relation to the putative local benefits."158 Therefore, a state may be able to enact legislation that does in fact affect interstate commerce in certain circumstances without violating the Commerce Clause of the U.S. Constitution. However, such legislation will only be upheld if the state can demonstrate it has a legitimate purpose for its actions, and if it is determined that the burden on interstate commerce does not outweigh the local benefit to be realized.159

The evenhanded balancing test was used to analyze Oakland's attempt to take the Raiders through eminent domain.160 In City of Oakland v. Oakland Raiders,161 a California court was called on to determine whether such an action would violate the Commerce Clause.162 The court eventually determined that the benefits which the City would derive from the taking did not outweigh the burden that it would place on interstate commerce.163 This conclusion was reached through an examination of the unique nature of the National Football League.164 Relying on the decision reached in Partee v. San Diego Chargers Football Co.,165 the court concluded that the NFL's need for "national uniform regulation" outweighed the burden that such a taking would have on interstate commerce.166

In making this determination, the court examined several important factors about the NFL to support the conclusion that the attempt to take the Raiders would substantially interfere with interstate commerce. First, the court relied on the findings of the Partee court to determine that the NFL was a nationwide entity.167 Then the court pointed out several findings of its own, such as the dependency of each NFL team on the income of every other team,168 the sharing of revenue generated by television contracts and ticket receipts between the teams,169 and the other important interests that each team owner has in every other team in the league.170 These factors demonstrated that any state regulation on a particular franchise would, in effect, burden the entire nationwide league. They also showed that "a single precedent of eminent domain acquisition [c]ould pervade the entire League, and even the threat of its exercise elsewhere would seriously disrupt the balance of economic bargaining on stadium leases throughout the nation."171 The court ended by balancing the major impact such a use of eminent domain would have on interstate commerce against the "less [than] compelling" reasons that the city had presented to support the taking.172

It seems that a straight-forward analysis of the issue under the eminent domain power, may not completely answer the question of whether the Browns' organization could have been taken through a use of eminent domain by the City of Cleveland or State of Ohio.173 As demonstrated in City of Oakland v. Oakland Raiders,174 an attempt to seize an NFL franchise would invoke Commerce Clause considerations.175 Because the dormant commerce clause restricts the ability of a state to take any action that affects interstate commerce,176 an attempt to take the Browns through the power of eminent domain must be judged according to the guidelines of the evenhanded balancing test.177 For such an action to be upheld, it must be demonstrated that the local benefit of such a taking would outweigh the burden placed on interstate commerce.178 Although it would appear from City of Oakland that the burden on interstate commerce is clearly excessive and the local benefit is only trivial,179 it has been argued that the court focused on too many of the wrong factors to provide a fair analysis of the issues in that case.180

For example, although the California court determined that the NFL was composed of a nationwide league structure that required nationwide regulation, a federal court held in Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum Commission v. National Football League181 that the NFL was not a "single entity" for federal antitrust purposes.182 Also, there seems to be significant problems with using the national uniformity analysis to protect an owner of an NFL franchise when relocation is involved.183 First, relocation by an individual owner does not necessarily coincide with the NFL goal of economic and league stability.184 The individual owner's goal in relocating is often to increase the amount of revenue he does not have to share with the rest of the league.185 This is often in conflict with the prosperity of the league, especially when an owner moves away from a city that has financially supported and became very loyal to a specific team.186 Second, this rationale seems to create a paradox where the individual owner is relocating against the express wishes of the rest of the league.187 This is demonstrated in the situation involving the Raiders, where their owner sued the rest of the league when they voted not to approve the relocation move.188

For the reasons stated above, it appears the application of the evenhanded balancing test may lead to a variety of results when applied to the situation presented to Cleveland in the Fall of 1995.189 It may initially appear that any use of the eminent domain power to condemn the Browns' professional football organization would have been an impermissible burden on interstate commerce.190 However, it has been demonstrated that it may be possible, although less certain, to argue that the local benefit does substantially outweigh the burden on interstate commerce,191 especially in this situation in which the
NFL has been so enthusiastically supported by a city.192 Ultimately however, it is the position of this Comment that any actual analysis of this situation would probably be decided in favor of allowing the move. Because other jurisdictions have held that such a use of the eminent domain power violates the dormant commerce clause,193 Ohio courts would also want to see that the provisions of the Commerce Clause are not violated.194

IV. Congressional Response

Because the problem of sports franchise relocation is facing many cities across our nation today, this Comment has focused on the situation which faced the people of Cleveland, Ohio in an attempt to make a determination as to whether the problem can be remedied through the sovereign power of eminent domain. Because it has been demonstrated that such use of the eminent domain power would probably prove to be unsuccessful,195 this Comment advocates congressional legislation to address this situation. In looking at the problems associated with attempting to reach a non-legislative solution, it appears even stronger that congressional legislation is necessary to combat this ever growing phenomena.

In the absence of congressional legislation, it appears that the two entities most likely to be able to solve this problem are either the cities who enter into these leasing agreements,196 or the leagues themselves, which one would hope to have some amount of control over the individual team owners.197 However, the problem in assuming that either of these entities can solve the situation is that neither assumption takes into account the factual realities of today's big business sports world. First, regarding a city's bargaining power in negotiating with an entity such as an NFL franchise, it would only seem natural to assume that the city should protect itself in the event that the team wants to relocate.198 This assumption is based on the erroneous belief that the city and the franchise have equal bargaining power.199 In reality, this assertion is far from the truth, due to the fact that the demand for team franchises completely out number the limited number of teams that belong to professional sport leagues.200 This creates a situation where teams are able to use offers from other cities to extract the most favorable terms out of whichever city with which they are negotiating a lease.201 Cities are forced to spend millions in order to build and improve stadiums so they can compete with one another for the few teams that move or enter the league as new franchises.202 Currently, this lack of product supply works a great disadvantage against the cities, who have nothing else to offer except what can be spent from public funds.203

Today's second misperception is the belief that the NFL can solve this problem internally.204 Although the league does have mechanisms in place to control team relocation, these provisions were found to be illegal.205 In Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum Commissioner, a federal court held that Article IV, Rule 4.3 of the NFL Constitution, which provided that an owner needed approval from 3/4 of the other team owners before he could relocate, violated federal antitrust laws.206 This decision virtually rendered useless any power the league has in solving this problem itself.207 Although the NFL still has rules regarding relocation restrictions, the rules seem unenforceable, and the threat of another law suit appears to keep the other owners from even trying to block such a move.208

It is for the reasons stated above that this Comment advocates federal legislation to solve this problem. Such legislation could prove successful in a number of ways. For example, Congress could give communities more power by allowing them to have some influence on league decision's regarding team relocation.209 Because Congress, and not the states, has the power to govern this unique aspect of interstate commerce, it is Congress that is best able to deal with the situation in this manner.210 Also, congressional legislation can be effective by simply providing more antitrust exemptions to professional sports, and particularly the NFL, to give the leagues some power to deal with this situation as they see fit.211 The real difficulty, however, is finding legislation that would be responsive to the situation, but not so overly burdensome that the management of the NFL would be taken out of the individual owners' "hands" who have built the league to be what it is today.

Several pieces of legislation have been introduced in the past to address the relocation problem, particularly in the mid-1980s when there seemed to be a flurry of professional sports team relocations.212 None of the legislation introduced ever became law, because there was no consensus as to the goals of the legislation or the amount of government regulation that should be involved.213 For example, the Professional Football Stabilization Act of 1985214 would not have allowed a team that resided in a stadium for more than six years to move unless one party materially breached a provision of the lease, the stadium was "inadequate for the purposes of profitabl[e] operation," or the team had suffered losses for three straight years.215 On the other hand, the Professional Sports Community Act of 1985216 provided for a limited antitrust exemption for certain professional sports leagues to allow the leagues to enforce their own relocation guidelines if they complied with an objective twelve factor list of considerations in making the relocation determination.217 Yet another bill, The Sports Team Community Protection Act,218 called for a very comprehensive system of regulation for all the major sports, including the creation of a Professional Sports Franchise Arbitration Board to oversee the relocation decisions made by the different leagues' management systems.219

These examples illustrate that numerous attempts have been made in the past to solve the relocation problem, but for one reason or another, all have failed.220 However, because this has proven to be a problem that will not resolve itself, Congress has once again began to explore the possibility of enacting federal legislation to address this matter.221 For sev
eral reasons, Congress should adopt the Fans Rights Act of 1995, which was introduced in the Senate on November 30, 1995222

First, the bill advocates a workable solution for the relocation problem in professional sports, while trying to take into account all of the interests of the affected parties. The bill would "provid[e] sports leagues with a very narrow, limited exemption to antitrust laws if the league has voted to block a move."223 This provision would give the leagues the control needed to handle the problem themselves without the fear of being sued by their own members for antitrust law violations, and without government exhibiting too much control over league operations.224

Secondly, the bill would "require that teams give communities at least 6 months' notice before a relocation can occur."225 This provision does not restrict the teams from getting the benefits of better deals that they may be able to find in the open market, but it does give the current "home" cities of these teams some leverage in that they have the ability to decide whether they want to make a counter-proposal or let the team go.226

Finally, the bill includes a "fair play clause," which restricts the leagues from collecting relocation fees from cities before they even make an objective vote as to whether it would be in the leagues' best interests for a certain team to move from one city to another.227 Currently, it is this ability that allows the leagues and teams to have such a distinct economic advantage over the cities that must compete with one another to be considered a team's "home."228 This legislation would take away this unfair advantage between the two competing interests.229

It appears that congressional legislation is the most appropriate source for dealing with the sports franchise relocation problem.230 Because the Fans Rights Act of 1995 seems to do an effective job of balancing the competing interests involved with the situation, its appears this bill provides the most workable solution to deal with this situation. The bill would not only give the cities increased power in the league decisions that have such tremendous impacts on them, but it would also give the leagues themselves the power to deal with the problems, without calling for substantial government involvement.231

V. Conclusion

The sports relocation problem remains prevalent in today's society. This Comment has explored the possibility of the City of Cleveland or the State of Ohio using the power of eminent domain to prevent the Cleveland Browns franchise from moving to Baltimore. Although it appears, in looking purely at the eminent domain power, that such a 'taking' could be achieved successfully, such an action would probably fail because of the dormant commerce clause considerations.

Because the eminent domain power cannot be used to solve the relocation problem, federal legislation is needed to intervene. Currently, the cities are being taken advantage of because of the lack of bargaining power they have in the process, and the leagues themselves are powerless to solve the problem because of the antitrust restrictions against preventing such business moves. For these reasons, the Fans' Rights Act of 1995 should be adopted to resolve this situation, because it currently provides the best opportunity for the individual actors to reach fair and workable solutions to address the relocation problem.

Steven R. Hobson II