Will Cleveland Browns keep FirstEnergy as stadium naming rights sponsor amid alleged bribery case?

CLEVELAND, Ohio — Browns executives loved the FirstEnergy name on the team’s stadium when they partnered with the Akron-based company in 2013.

But will they sever ties with the corporation in the wake of Tuesday’s federal complaint that FirstEnergy paid $60 million in bribes to Ohio lawmakers for a public bailout of two of its power plants?

FirstEnergy, which agreed to a 17-year, $102 million deal in 2013 to purchase the naming rights of the previous Cleveland Browns Stadium, is the “Company A” referred to in the $60 million federal racketeering case.

A Browns spokesman told cleveland.com the team has “a great partnership'' with FirstEnergy, but declined to comment on any reports.

On Tuesday, federal prosecutors announced charges against Ohio House Speaker Larry Householder and others, accusing them of accepting more than $60 million in bribes to secure a $1.3 billion bailout for the Perry and Davis-Besse nuclear power plants owned by FirstEnergy Solutions, now Energy Harbor.

Householder charged with accepting bribes from FirstEnergy Corp.

FirstEnergy Corp. has not been charged, but David DeVillers, U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of Ohio, indicated it could be.

Why hasn’t FirstEnergy been charged?

“We’re going to continue to investigate this, and we’re going to investigate wherever it leads,‘' he said during a press conference Tuesday.

The other defendants are former Ohio Republican Party chairman Matt Borges, Columbus lobbyist Neil Clark, Householder aide Jeff Longstrenth, Columbus lobbyist Juan Cespedes and the group Generation Now.

FirstEnergy is paying the Browns $6 million a year to have its name emblazoned on the stadium through 2029.

According to the FirstEnergy website, the partnership also consists of interior and exterior stadium signage, use of Browns trademarks, event sponsorships, as well as a full complement of media assets, including TV, radio, print and digital. The two entities also jointly participate in philanthropic endeavors throughout the region.

When the collaboration began in 2013 Browns owner Jimmy Haslam said, “This is a great day for all of us and it builds on the momentum we have experienced as we enter into a new era of Cleveland Browns Football.”

FirstEnergy has been a corporate partner of the Browns since the team’s return in 1999, including gate sponsorship from 2002 through 2006 and scoreboard sponsorship from 1999 through 2014.

“The Browns and FirstEnergy have enjoyed a tremendous relationship for more than a decade,” Haslam added in 2013. “Our core values of being the best at everything we do are clearly aligned, and because of their commitment to the City of Cleveland and to all of Northeast Ohio, we felt this would be the perfect partnership. Plus, it’s a great name for the stadium – FirstEnergy.”