Bengals Countersue County For Joining Antitrust Lawsuit

Bengals Fire Back At County With Countersuit

The Bengals have decided to countersue Hamilton County after the county joined a federal antitrust lawsuit alleging that the team and the NFL "used its monopoly power to 'extort' a new stadium from taxpayers," according to Gregory Korte of the CINCINNATI ENQUIRER. Bengals Dir of Business Development Troy Blackburn: "This is, realistically, a four-year litigation. It's going to get ugly. It's going to get expensive." Korte noted that the Hamilton County commission voted 2-0 last week to join the federal lawsuit, as Republican Phil Heimlich joined Democrat Todd Portune in agreeing to hire attorney Stan Chesley to represent the county. Blackburn added "Until [last] week , what were we supposed to do? Until [last] week, you had one voice at the county commission. Now it appears there are two. That's a majority. That's a sea change." Among the team's possible claims in its countersuit is that the lease at the stadium "requires the county, not the Bengals, to pay $14[M] in federal taxes on the sale of [PSLs]. The team paid the taxes while the county fights with the [IRS] over the liability." Portune indicated that he would "call the Bengals' bluff." Portune: "Nobody's going to buy that 'we're going to move to another town' stuff again" (CINCINNATI ENQUIRER, 3/13). Chesley added of the Bengals, "They say we'll be sorry. It's absurd. It's a bullying tactic that they're famous for. Citizens are finally saying they want to see the facts" (CINCINNATI ENQUIRER, 3/14).