The negotiations continue.
Officials from the National Football League’s Cincinnati Bengals franchise and Hamilton County, Ohio politicians are in the middle of a kabuki dance as negotiations continue on a lease extension that allows the Bengals ownership to use the Cincinnati stadium for as few as 10 or as many as 13 games a season. The problem is this. The lease is done after the 2026 season and both sides want to extend the lease and then figure out what to do in terms of either renovating the stadium or build a new one altogether. The sides are doing the stadium dance.
What to do with the stadium is a complex question. For instance should Hamilton County, Cincinnati and Ohio taxpayers kick in to help fund the cost of putting a dome on the stadium? That is one concept that Hamilton County officials are discussing. The cost of putting a lid on the stadium? Roughly one billion dollars. The stadium is currently getting a $39 million upgrade. Bengals’ ownership and Hamilton County negotiators agree on one item though. The time has come for the city of Cincinnati and Hamilton County elected officials and Bengals’ ownership to discuss what the next step is in making sure Bengals’ football stays in Cincinnati beyond the expiration of the lease agreement that ties the team to Cincinnati through 2026. Will Cincinnati and Hamilton County agree to renovate the present facility? Will Cincinnati and Hamilton County build a new facility or will the Bengals’ ownership look for greener pastures? It is too early in the stadium game to get a definitive answer but to quote Yogi Berra it is getting late early. Bengals’ ownership can opt out of a five-year lease extension to use the stadium in June and that could conceivably allow the business to look for another city to entice Bengals’ ownership to move.
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