This doesn’t look great for Cincinnati.
It appears as if things between the Cincinnati Bengals and Hamilton County are getting heated regarding a new stadium lease.
According to The Cincinnati Business Courier, the team has accused Hamilton County of being in default of their 1997 lease agreement.
According to the same report, the county responded, claiming the Bengals have been disingenuous.
“The county has leveled its own default allegation against the Bengals and said the team dragged its feet on providing details of the renovations it sought to pursue,” wrote Chris Wetterich. “Including how it planned to comply with the government bidding requirements for the county-owned stadium.”
He also wrote the Bengals revoked all lease extension offers in July of 2024 and have cut off all talks, saying they “have proven useless.”
If you remember, things didn’t really go the county’s way the last time the two sides made a deal. Hamilton County approved a half-percent sales tax hike to fund Paul Brown Paycor Paychex(?) Stadium and Great American Ballpark in 1996, and then it came to light that deal was unusually lopsided in the team’s favor compared to others around the country.
The lease is up in 2026, and renovations need to be made to the stadium to keep up with newer stadiums around the league. The fact things are possibly getting ugly isn’t a good sign that this will get done before time starts to run out.
Check out Chris Wetterich’s report here, and stay tuned as this story develops.
