The Bengals have exceeded sales goals for private
suites and club seats for its new football stadium, as
specified in the team's deal Hamilton County. Bengals
President Mike Brown said the club has sold more than 83 of
the 104 private suites for the new stadium and more than
6,000 of the 7,500 club seats (Bengals). The ENQUIRER's
Geoff Hobson wrote that the club's "regional strategy"
helped it meet its sales goals. An estimated 20% of club
seats "are classified as regional sales," and 18 suites were
sold in the Lexington-Louisville, Miami Valley-Dayton and
Columbus areas. The Bengals' Brown said a 30-year lease
with Hamilton County is "imminent" this week, despite City
Manager John Shirey's new report recommending raising an
admission tax to at least 5.5% and "possibly" 6%. Brown:
"We're going forward. We aren't going to be put off by
this." Construction on the new stadium could begin by
January, with an August 2000 opening (CINCINNATI ENQUIRER,
5/25). Sales have generated more than $11M in revenue for
the 2000 season. The team sold at least 83 suites for about
$5.8M, around 6,000 club seats for about $6M and nearly
36,000 PSLs, approaching $26M (CINCINNATI ENQUIRER, 5/24).
