The stadium renovations could cost up to $1.2 billion.
The owner of the National Football League’s Cincinnati Bengals franchise, Mike Brown, is about ready to ask Ohio legislators what about us? Whatever money you plan to give the owner of the NFL’s Cleveland Browns franchise, Jimmy Haslam, for either a renovated or new Browns’ stadium, we want the same financial aid. There is a problem with that request. Haslam still has not decided whether to renovate his stadium or move to nearby Brook Park so there has not been an allocation of public money. Hamilton County, Ohio officials want to renovate the Bengals’ Cincinnati stadium. But there is a string attached. The reconstruction of the stadium will cost around $1.2 billion and no one seems to know how the stadium debt will be paid down. Hamilton County Commission President Alicia Reece has discussed the plans with the Ohio Governor Mike DeWine looking for money. She has a negotiating point. If DeWine gives money to Haslam after the state has invested in a baseball stadium and an arena in Cleveland and an arena and a soccer stadium in Columbus, what about Cincinnati?
“You can’t give everything to Cleveland and leave us with the scraps,” Reece said. “We certainly have to get our fair share and not be left with the scraps.” DeWine is very aware that if you give one owner money then all the other owners will be at his door looking for dollars. “When you do something with one stadium and one team, that obviously creates a desire all the way through, to do it multiple times. And that that is what the legislature and I have to be cognizant of and think about as we look at kind of one-off proposals. What is this do to every other team in the state?” The stadium game has started in Cincinnati.
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Ohio Governor Mike DeWine
