CLEVELAND, Ohio – The Cleveland Browns advanced new arguments Friday in a lawsuit over the franchise’s potential move from its lakefront stadium to Brook Park.

Team attorneys said the so-called “Modell Law” — which places certain restrictions on professional sports teams planning to leave a city that funded it with taxpayer dollars — only applies if a team is under contract with a city.

The amended lawsuit argued that the team plans to fulfill its contractual obligations by playing its home games at the lakefront stadium until the lease expires after the 2028 season.

The Modell Act “is clearly intended to prevent a team playing in a tax-supported facility from relocating from that location during the term of the applicable lease agreement,” the new complaint states. “The Browns have not, and do not intend, to relocate while required to play at (Huntington Bank Field).”

The new complaint, filed in federal court in Cleveland, also reiterated the previous goal of having a federal judge rule that state law is too vague to be constitutional.

The Modell Act was passed in 1996 after former owner Art Modell moved the original Browns to Baltimore, requires teams to give their cities six months’ notice before leaving town and gives residents the chance to purchase the team first, among other amenities.

City attorneys have not yet responded to the lawsuit and said in a filing this week that they wanted to hire outside attorneys to handle the case. Cleveland.com and The Plain Dealer reached out to a city spokeswoman for comment.

The Ohio attorney general has asked to intervene in the lawsuit against the Browns. The Browns were not opposed to giving the state an argument, but U.S. District Judge David Ruiz has not yet ruled on the attorney general’s request.

Among the other new arguments are the Browns expanded on their belief that the Model Law is too vague, particularly the law’s language regarding political subdivisions whose taxpayers help fund the team’s stadium. The Browns receive financial support from the taxpayers of both Cleveland and Cuyahoga County.

The team argued that this move would not take place outside the borders of Cuyahoga County and would not violate the Model Law, even if a judge were to declare the law constitutional.

“If there can be more than one political subdivision, which political subdivision has priority or applies?” the lawsuit said. “In this case, the location of Brook Park is in Cuyahoga County, the same county within which the existing lakefront stadium is located.”

Adam Ferrise covers federal courts in cleveland.com and The Common Dealer. You can find his work here.