Ohio State Fair 2025 DeWine opening day ribbon cutting
Governor Mike DeWine was present during the ribbon-cutting on opening day of the 2025 Ohio State Fair.
- Ohioans have mixed reactions, with some supporting the use of unclaimed funds and others criticizing it.
- Concerns about the stadium’s location and ticket affordability were also raised.
- Ohio is using $1.7 billion in various projects across Ohio, including $600 million for the Cleveland Browns stadium.
Kim Stone is a Cleveland Browns fan. Jackie Tank isn’t.
The old friends from Delaware County may not see eye to eye on football, but they agree the state using $600 million in unclaimed funds for a new Browns stadium in Brook Park doesn’t sit right. Stone leans against the funding plan, but Tank is already decided.
“I don’t agree with it. It is not their money to take,” Tank said outside a booth at the Ohio State Fair where Ohioans can file to retrieve their unclaimed funds. “I don’t think they should move the stadium; most people want it to be left where it is. And I don’t agree with how they want to fund it.”
Stone, a proud member of the Dawg Pound, says the stadium should stay where it is. But she acknowledges that the funds—held by the government for more than 10 years—have been sitting unused for a long time.
Ohio holds $4.8 billion in unclaimed funds, including $1.7 billion untouched for over a decade. The state plans to spend unclaimed funds that have been sitting for more than a decade, starting in 2026. The first $600 million will go to the Browns’ plan to build a $2.4 billion covered stadium in Brook Park.
Unclaimed funds are lost or forgotten money reported by banks and businesses to the Ohio Department of Commerce’s Division of Unclaimed Funds. The money comes from things like inactive checking and saving accounts, refunds and credit balances, stocks and bonds, forgotten utility deposits and last paychecks.
Ohioans can claim their unclaimed funds online through the Ohio Department of Commerce. But the state also sets up a booth at the Ohio State Fair for staff to assist fairgoers with filing claims. As of July 29, the booth at the fair helped initiate 557 claims totaling $250,770.28, according to the Ohio Department of Commerce website.
Dispatch staff hung around the booth to talk to Ohioans about the plan to spend unclaimed funds on a sports stadium. Many voiced strong opposition, some withheld judgement and a few were firmly in support.
Beverly Horsfall, a 71-year-old Akron resident, stopped at the stand with her husband, Joe, to check on their unclaimed funds.
She understands the concerns about using unclaimed funds for the stadium, but she thinks more people should be talking about the potential relocation of the stadium. She believes downtown Cleveland businesses rely on Browns game-day traffic and worry they’ll struggle if that foot traffic disappears.
Joe Horsfall, 73, sees both sides: there is potential economic growth in the proposed new location, but he has always appreciated the connection between the Browns and downtown Cleveland.
“I am not going to say it is a good thing or a bad thing because I don’t know enough about it,” Horsfall said of the funding plan. “It is going to help the economy.”
Similarly, Greg Baumann, 64, who lives in Gahanna with his wife Kim, 73, wasn’t ready to speak on behalf of Clevelanders, even as a Browns fan.
“I don’t really think I should give my opinion on that because I think the people in Cleveland, the people it effects the most… I’m sure they are not real happy about it,” said Greg. “Cleveland is already pretty down beat [right now].”
Even if some are not ready to voice their opinion, Terrie Rhoades-Baker, 75, is.
“I think it is a really good idea. Instead of keeping that money just sitting there we might as well put it to good use,” she said.
This is not the first year that she has filed for her unclaimed funds, but in years past she hasn’t followed through beyond the first steps in the process. This year, the Pataskala resident is hoping to collect.
While she is in support of using the money for something, Rhoades-Baker wants the project to be accessible to Ohioans.
“It will be good if they keep the prices down so families can take their children,” said Rhoades-Baker. “It is way out of price.”
Tickets to see the Cleveland Browns this season at Huntington Bank Stadium range from $50 to over $600 depending on the opponent.
Diane Sparks agrees that ticket prices are too high.
She didn’t have any unclaimed funds this year, but her brother did. In years past, Sparks filed for her funds because of the booth at the fair.
“This is money that belongs to the people, who are already paying as taxpayers and many of us don’t even go to the games, not because we don’t want to but because we can’t even afford to go,” Sparks said.
She talked about how it doesn’t matter how much money someone has in the unclaimed funds pot, it is their money.
“Even if it is just for $100, $100 can make a big difference in the lives of a lot of people,” said Sparks.
Reporter Sarah Sollinger can be reached at ssollinger@dispatch.com.
