By Jim Siegel, The Columbus Dispatch
COLUMBUS – A Franklin County lawmaker says a state law passed in reaction to Art Modell’s decision to move the Cleveland Browns to Baltimore could be used to stop the Columbus Crew SC from leaving town.
READ MORE: In The Columbus Dispatch
Rep. Mike Duffey, R-Worthington, is asking Attorney General Mike DeWine to take legal action to block the Crew SC’s threatened move to Austin, Texas.
“This is our team, our town. We’re not going to go out without a fight,” Duffey said.
UPDATE (12/7 4:43 p.m.) – DeWine issued this statement Thursday afternoon: “As Attorney General, should ownership of the Columbus Crew initiate a move of the team without complying with Ohio law, I am prepared to take the necessary legal action under this law to protect the interests of the State of Ohio and the central Ohio communities which have all invested to make the Columbus Crew a proud part of our Ohio sports tradition.”
“The fact is, the law is the law, and they’ve got to follow it just like everybody else. They’ve been jerks about everything they’ve done about it. If we want to purchase the team as a town, we’re afforded that right under state law.”
The basis for the action, he said, is a 1996 law that says no owner of a professional sports team in Ohio that uses tax-supported facilities or gets public financial assistance can move out of town unless the owner gives six months advance notice and gives the city or local individuals who reside in the area the opportunity to purchase the team.
“This is the one thing the Browns did for the state of Ohio that we should all praise them for,” Duffey said.
“If people in Columbus don’t want to buy the team, they can move. But if people want to buy the team, they’ve got to sell it” if it’s a reasonable offer.
Duffey says Crew SC qualifies as receiving taxpayer-supported facilities because it is paying a below-market rate to lease state land for parking, the stadium sits on land that is tax exempt, and the state in 2009 provided $5 million for parking upgrades at the Ohio Expo Center, where lots just south of the stadium and are used by Crew SC fans.