Managing and Principal Partners, Dee and Jimmy Haslam, Huntington Bank Chairman, President and Chief Executive Officer Steve Steinour and Huntington Bank Senior Executive Vice President and President, Consumer and Regional Banking Brant Standridge (9.3.24)
Jimmy (Haslam), how long has this kind of been in the works?
Jimmy Haslam: “Yeah, when did our team start talking, Steve (Steinour)?”
Steve Steinour: “I think they may have begun, like, four months ago, in a very general way. Didn’t get specific till about six weeks ago, and then it moved very quick. This is very quick.”
Jimmy Haslam: “As we mentioned in our remarks, we were down in Columbus for three days, for the (MLS) All-Star Game went by to see Steve. JW (Johnson) and I spent decent amount of time with him, and we could tell there was mutual interest. And obviously, big interest in getting things done before the first game with a national TV audience, the (Dallas) Cowboys, the Browns, Tom Brady’s first game, etcetera, and so everything came together. I think the teams worked well together, and I told Steve, when I saw our teams working on Saturday and Sunday, I knew it was going to happen. So, hugely exciting day for I know, the Cleveland Browns organization.
Steve kind of mentioned it, but if you do build that new stadium, will this carry over to there?
Jimmy Haslam: “You want to answer that?”
Steve Steinour: “Sure. This is with the Cleveland Browns. So, wherever the Cleveland Browns play, we’re going to be there in a big way, and that’s either here or a new stadium.”
I have a question for Jimmy and Dee (Haslam), if you don’t mind. Where do things stand with the decision between renovating this place or building a dome and what’s the general timetable or specific timetable for getting that done?
Jimmy Haslam: “Yeah, great question. I think it’s a subject for another day, though. I think today is about a long-term partnership between what we believe are two of Ohio’s premier institutions, Huntington Bank and the Cleveland Browns. That’s what we want to talk about today. We’ll answer those questions in the coming days.
You do realize that’s on the top of mind of everybody in Northeast Ohio? That’s why we’re asking.
Jimmy Haslam: “Yeah, we realize that (laughter). I think we’ve been very explicit that this is complex, it’s complicated, it’s going to take some time, and so at the appropriate time, we’ll address that. That’s not today.”
We’ve seen the renderings of Huntington Bank Field, the branding and all that. What’s the timeline for this to be visible for fans when they come in here?
Steve Steinour: “It’ll be visible this weekend. Opening game.”
Brant Standridge: “That’s right. Cowboys.”
Steve Steinour: “It’s great partnership and teamwork. This is incredibly fast in terms of how it came together, including the artwork, the digital, the rest of it. And it’s reflective of the terrific team here at the Browns and our ability of the two teams working seven days a week, as Jimmy said, to get this done.”
Jimmy Haslam: “We were talking with the Legends guys just a few minutes ago, who we’ve known for a long time and worked together on several other projects, and they said this is the fastest they’ve ever seen the naming rights come together and the best they’ve seen two teams work. And I think that’s a compliment to both Steve’s team and our team.”
All the additional money that comes with this partnership, where can Clevelanders expect that money to be going?
Jimmy Haslam: “Dee, you want to answer that? (Laughter) Listen, a entity like this generates a tremendous amount of revenue, okay? And we also pay a lot of revenue out. Those revenues out to players, team members, etcetera. And it won’t… it’ll be treated just like all the monies we have come in. I think the important thing is long term relationship with people we value highly who have the same type of values and cultures we do. ”
Did the uncertainty of the site beyond 2028 complicate the deal at all or was it more about just being connected to the project?
Steve Steinour: “Well, it was never an issue from our perspective. We wanted to put a partnership. This 20 years, this is like a marriage. I mean, you go into this committed, and we feel so good about Jimmy and Dee and the team here, and the values, the shared values, what they do in the community. We felt this was a natural alignment. So, it was a very quick decision on our part, including our boards, to make this long-term partnership become an announcement today.”
How does the money that you have to put in for these naming rights, how does that end up benefiting Huntington?
Steve Steinour: “Well, a number of ways. Brant (Standridge), why don’t you answer that?”
Brant Standridge: “Yeah, thank you. A couple of things. Number one, it helps expand our brand nationally, and we have a number of businesses that already operate across the country, and we continue to expand into new geographies. And being associated with an organization like the Cleveland Browns and the exposure that the Cleveland Browns get nationally certainly helps us. I’d also say that this is a very important market for us. And so being here and being in Northeast Ohio and sending a message to our Huntington customers and colleagues in this market that this is important and we’re willing to make a long-term investment, we think is powerful. And then Dee started this with her comments, but we are very aligned in our focus on giving back to the community. And so, we can see lots of ways that the Browns and Huntington will be able to work together going forward to contribute more to the community here in Northeast Ohio and Cleveland.”
What about the green button? Will we see that on game days?
Jimmy Haslam: “We may. I would also add, I think Brant hit it right, when you invest in any NFL franchise in naming rights, it’s not just that local entity. You’re investing in the NFL. And so, as Brant or Steve said, I think Steve said it, 93 of the top 100 shows, all shows were NFL games last year. Four of our eight games will be national primetime games; the Cowboys game at 4:25 p.m., we have two Thursday night games and we have a Monday night game late in the year. So, all of those come into play and they will start out by saying, ‘Welcome to Huntington Bank Field, Cleveland, Ohio, for the Browns Cowboys game,’ or whoever it might be. And, you know, fully the NFL would never say this, but I think we’ll have 30 million people watching on Sunday. And so we hope that’s really good for Huntington because we want to be great partners and we want them to get really good value out of this partnership.”
Have you anticipated a nickname yet for Huntington Bank Field?
Jimmy Haslam: “No, we are going to have no nicknames, it’s going to be Huntington Bank Field. Mr. Steinour was clear on a lot of things, but it was going to be Huntington Bank Field (laughter). He had a not so good experience in another locale, and he wants it to be Huntington Bank Field, so it’s going to be Huntington Bank Field and we will fight hard for anybody who tries to put a nickname on it. Is that right?”
Steve Steinour: “That’s right. You heard me (laughter).”