Bengals, Hamilton County growing 'impatient' with ongoing lease discussions

Talks between Hamilton County and the Bengals on a new Paycor Stadium lease have “not progressed as quickly as the team and county leaders have hoped,” and the Bengals “are getting impatient,” according to Scott Wartman of the CINCINNATI ENQURIER. Bengals attorney Aaron Herzig said they “really have genuine questions about what the county wants.” Hamilton County commissioners “expressed anxiousness to start negotiations.” Board of Commissioners President Alicia Reece, after receiving an update on current upgrades being made to the stadium, “called for the county administration to develop a timeline for the lease negotiations and release it to the public.” Hamilton County Administrator Jeff Aluotto said that he “took the commissioners' comments as a green light to start lease negotiations" so the county can better "understand what bigger renovations need to be done to the stadium.” The Bengals “have a deadline of June 2025” to decide whether to exercise the first of five, two-year extensions allowed under the lease. The county commissioners in December agreed to make $39M in repairs and renovations to Paycor Stadium in 2024. The repairs include a “new turf, refurbished club seating and an expanded plaza to improve entering and leaving the stadium.” The $39M in upgrades are still “nowhere near” the amount Bengals VP Troy Blackburn proposed in the email to the county on Aug 8. Blackburn proposed the county commit $150M in improvements and repairs to the stadium “by the end of 2024” and $150M “by the end of 2025.” The Bengals would “kick in” $50M. In exchange, the Bengals would "extend the lease another five years through 2030" (CINCINNATI ENQUIRER, 4/23).

IN NEED OF AN ASSIST: Reece said the NFL “should be prepared to kick in at least” $100M for upgrades at Paycor Stadium, the first time a county official “has thrown out a specific figure for a project expected to cost hundreds of millions of dollars.” She cited the NFL’s contributions to other stadium projects, “including those in Buffalo and Nashville.” Buffalo and Nashville are both planning new stadiums. Reece: "The NFL has got to put more skin in the game. We need to get moving" (CINCINNATI BUSINESS COURIER, 4/23).