Arkansas Bengal Posted April 25 Report Share Posted April 25 Frustration emerges over Bengals stadium lease negotiations By Mike Florio Published April 25, 2024 06:33 AM The Bengals’ lease at Paycor Stadium runs through 2026. And the Bengals are getting impatient with the pace of the talks. According to Scott Wartman of the Cincinnati Enquirer, communications between the team and Hamilton County reveal growing frustrations between the team and the governmental entity responsible for the stadium. “The team has grown concerned that there really isn’t political will for any deal,” Bengals Vice President Troy Blackburn wrote on August 8, 2023 to Hamilton County Administrator Jeff Aluotto, following a meeting regarding a lease extension. The Hamilton County Commissioners have since agreed to make $39 million in repairs and renovations, including new turf and club seating. Blackburn wanted much more than that, with the county committing $300 million to improvements and the Bengals adding $50 million. The bigger question is the agreement that binds the team to the venue. “We think it’s a good start, but it’s not nearly enough just to maintain the building,” Aaron Herzig, an attorney for the Bengals, told the Enquirer. “So it’s only a good start. The big question is what does the county want to do next? And we don’t know.” They don’t know because nothing has been happening. “In terms of moving forward on lease negotiations . . . we’ve seen no progress,” Herzig added. “And we’re wondering, we really have genuine questions about what the county wants.” From the county’s perspective, a $300 million commitment to upgrade the stadium requires more than a five-year extension of the lease. Earlier this week, the Hamilton County Commissioners nevertheless expressed urgency to get moving. “It’s time,” Commissioner Alicia Reece said. “We need to give everybody a deadline so we’re not at the last minute with our back against the wall.” Reece, as noted earlier this week, wants the NFL to pay at least $100 million for upgrades, with the Bengals, Ohio, and Hamilton County contributing, too. The clock is ticking. The Bengals have until June 2025 to decide whether to exercise the first of five two-year extensions of the lease. If they decline that option, the Bengals will be on track for geographic free agency after the 2026 season. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jackie Treehorn Posted April 25 Report Share Posted April 25 While I'm sure there is some truth to this, always remember that Florio is an avid Stealers fan so anything he writes negative about the Bengals should be taken with an enormous grain of salt. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
I_C_Deadpeople Posted April 25 Report Share Posted April 25 As an experiened businessman, I can assure you that negotiations with any municipal or governmnet deaprtment get frustarting at some point. Nature of the beast. 1 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jamie_B Posted April 25 Report Share Posted April 25 This may be blasphemous but hear me out. The Brown family only have the Bengals as a source of income. In order to raise money for things like this (or to put money in escrow for contracts) they have to use the stadium for other events, or they have to raise money with local businesses buying into the Bengals and that only happens when the Bengals are successful which requires money for investing in the stadium and the team. Events require good weather because we are an outdoor team. What if the Bengals put forth a proposal to add a roof to the stadium so that we can do more events when the weather isnt good? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
|BlackJesus| Posted April 25 Report Share Posted April 25 39 minutes ago, Jamie_B said: This may be blasphemous Nope. Hell no. Domes should be banned in my view. Plus they usually cost like a half billion dollars on their own to install. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jamie_B Posted April 25 Report Share Posted April 25 2 minutes ago, BlackJesus said: Nope. Hell no. Domes should be banned in my view. Plus they usually cost like a half billion dollars on their own to install. They can be retractable. What other suggestions do we have for raising money? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
|BlackJesus| Posted April 25 Report Share Posted April 25 10 minutes ago, Jamie_B said: They can be retractable. What other suggestions do we have for raising money? Retractable is twice as expensive. They would never make the money back, even if they had Taylor Swift concerts once a month. The city council dickheads just need to realize that having an NFL team is a unique privilege that must be paid for. There's only 32 cities lucky enough and Cincinnati as a smaller market would not be chosen if they were rewarding teams now from scratch. So the Queen City better not fuck this up and force me down my Villain Arc towards Joker / Bane "explosives under the field" status 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jamie_B Posted April 25 Report Share Posted April 25 2 minutes ago, BlackJesus said: Retractable is twice as expensive. They would never make the money back, even if they had Taylor Swift's concerts once a month. The city council dickheads in Cincinnati just need to realize that having an NFL team is a unique privilege that must be paid for. There's only 32 cities lucky enough and Cincinnati as a smaller market would not be chosen if they were rewarding teams now from scratch. So the Queen City better not fuck this up and force me down my Villain Arc towards Joker / Unabomber status 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sparky151 Posted April 25 Report Share Posted April 25 The Bengals don't have much leverage in this situation. They aren't going to privately finance and build their own stadium and can't move to another city without the Brown family losing control of the team. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mikeslumina Posted April 25 Report Share Posted April 25 London bengals. I remember way back in 98 Katy, Mikey and the boys got a bag from city. Mike said he was offered huge bag to move to Baltimore. Cleveland took it and moved. I just notice when teams are shown, it’s not Cincinnati bengals it’s just bengals, look how they moved St. Louis rams to la. The owners will move out of cincy in heart beat. Doubt we get another team. It’s all about the spin. Media much easier to manipulate now and nfl is #1 league. It’s want global adoption so it would make sense financially and they all hate Cincinnati. Networks hate coming here. I wish we had built multi sport stadium like riverfront was. It needed replaced but two stadiums for small market did not make sense. I hope we can finance new stadium with crypto dodge coin but doubt Mikey would take it. Praying we keep them. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dautcom08 Posted April 25 Report Share Posted April 25 2 hours ago, Mikeslumina said: London bengals. I remember way back in 98 Katy, Mikey and the boys got a bag from city. Mike said he was offered huge bag to move to Baltimore. Cleveland took it and moved. I just notice when teams are shown, it’s not Cincinnati bengals it’s just bengals, look how they moved St. Louis rams to la. The owners will move out of cincy in heart beat. Doubt we get another team. It’s all about the spin. Media much easier to manipulate now and nfl is #1 league. It’s want global adoption so it would make sense financially and they all hate Cincinnati. Networks hate coming here. I wish we had built multi sport stadium like riverfront was. It needed replaced but two stadiums for small market did not make sense. I hope we can finance new stadium with crypto dodge coin but doubt Mikey would take it. Praying we keep them. This is not the case. The next-gen Brown's (Blackburn's) want to be here. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sparky151 Posted April 25 Report Share Posted April 25 The Bengals are in the same position vs Hamilton County as Trey Hendrickson is vs the team. They want something from someone who's not inclined to give it. Ohio's Art Modell law would make it hard for the Bengals to leave Cincinnati. The team would have to be offered for sale to local residents first. Suppose the Brown family values it at 6 billion and the best offer is 4 billion. Does that mean they are free to move? Not necessarily. The city or county could try to take it by eminent domain with the intention of reselling it to a new buyer committed to the city. In eminent domain, if the parties can't reach an agreement it goes to a jury trial. I doubt a jury of Hamilton County citizens will give the Brown family as much as they want. This came up a few years back with the Columbus MLS team. The former owner wanted to move it to Austin. The state of Ohio sued them and they ended up selling to Browns owner Jimmy Haslam and have thrived since. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mikeslumina Posted April 26 Report Share Posted April 26 Trust me seen it before it’s business no loyalty I hope you are right and they stay. here is my example Katie Troy from whitworth. I think once elizabeth takes over it might be different maybe. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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