The Ravens’ home will get another round of upgrades before the 2025 season, but the three-year project will cost more than originally anticipated — which the club and the state would share the cost of, under a memorandum introduced Wednesday.

In addition to $434 million in state funds already earmarked for improvements to M&T Bank Stadium, the Ravens would now pay $55 million. Of that, the Maryland Stadium Authority would reimburse the Ravens up to $35 million, meaning that, ultimately, the Ravens would contribute about $20 million to the renovations. The remainder of the roughly $489 million project would be funded by the state.

The stadium authority board approved the memorandum during a special meeting Wednesday. The memorandum needs to be approved by the state’s Board of Public Works, and any financing plan would also need to be OK’d by the authority’s board.

Upgrades to the state-owned stadium, completed in 1998, were made possible by a 2022 state law that paved the way for extensive renovations. The law allowed the authority to sell $1.2 billion worth of bonds to improve both M&T Bank Stadium and Oriole Park ($600 million each) — provided that debt service on the bonds did not last past the end of the team’s lease.

Thus, it incentivized the teams to sign leases that kept them in Baltimore for at least 15 more years.

Under the law, debt on those bonds will be paid off with state lottery funds, which otherwise would go to the state’s general fund. Many economists have long argued against publicly funding stadiums used by privately owned teams, arguing they are a poor use of government dollars.

The Ravens agreed in 2023 to a lease officially keeping them at M&T Bank Stadium until 2037. With that level of commitment, the Ravens were able to access the bulk, but not all, of the $600 million in bonds.

In similar fashion, the Orioles, who have committed to remain in Baltimore until 2038, will benefit from roughly $400 million in state-funded upgrades to Oriole Park over the coming years. Those include a new scoreboard and sound system.

M&T Bank Stadium is in the midst of a three-year renovation, which includes a new beer hall on the stadium’s exterior, expanded concourses and on-field seats, along with luxury suites and clubs for fans who pay top dollar.

The renovations will cost more than initially projected due to a “confluence of several factors, including increased construction costs, design modifications, and changes to the project schedules,” according to authority spokesperson Rachelina Bonacci.

Construction, which mostly pauses during the football season, began in early 2024 and will conclude ahead of the 2026 season. Before the 2025 season, M&T Bank Stadium will add a plaza to the northeast of the stadium and on-field suites that will replace some seats that had long been held by season ticket holders.

During Wednesday’s authority meeting, Phil Hutson, the authority’s vice president of capital projects and planning at the Camden Yards Sports Complex, described the memorandum as a “cash flow agreement.”

The Ravens will make a $20 million “private investment” into the stadium and will then place $35 million in escrow, Hutson said. As the authority pays off some of the bonds, it will later be able to sell more bonds as part of the $600 million issuance outlined in the 2022 law.

“As the work is done, we will pull out from the escrow,” Hutson said. “Then, in ’26, when we have the ability to have some additional capacity, we would sell those bonds and reimburse for the cost, up to the $35 million.”

The Ravens have two five-year options to extend their lease to 2042 or 2047. Doing so could have enabled the state to fully fund the upgrades, but the Ravens opted not to extend the lease.

Asked if the Ravens considered extending their lease past 2037, a team spokesperson did not reply to a request for comment.

“It could have been an option,” Hutson said of the potential of the Ravens to exercise a five-year lease extension. “[But] this was the option that was selected to go forward with.”

M&T Bank Stadium was built with public funds and, in the 27 years since, the state and the Ravens have each funded improvements. The Ravens, who have been majority owned by Steve Bisciotti since 2004, have invested about $250 million into the stadium since it opened.

The state, via the Board of Public Works, has already approved a $434 million plan to finance the bulk of the upcoming renovations. Of that, the state borrowed $192.5 million from JP Morgan, with the remainder coming from tax-exempt bonds that the state sold.

More recently, the authority has funded Oriole Park renovations in a different way. The state sold $135 million worth of bonds to finance the first wave of upgrades; the rest of the improvements will be funded down the road.

Expenditures on the stadiums come as the state is facing a budget deficit. Maryland’s multibillion-dollar budget gap is one of the “storms” facing the state, Gov. Wes Moore has said.