THE CINCINNATI BENGALS may be forced to move if they don’t get the necessary funds to upgrade their stadium.
The Bengals’ Paycor Stadium will require at least $350million in state money to renovate.
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And the NFL outfit have joined forces with Hamilton County to reach a deal.
According to WLWT, the two sides have launched a joint request to the state of Ohio.
The Paycor Stadium’s total renovation would cost a whopping $830m.
The team’s contribution and length of new lease that would be tied to the renovation is not yet specified.
If a new deal fails to be reached and the Bengals don’t exercise an option to extend the current lease by June 30 then the NFL giants’ ongoing deal will expire before the 2026 season.
Cincinnati executive V.P. Katie Blackburn said last week: “We play it day by day, and like everything else, we just continue to have discussions, see where things are, and then have to make decisions at the appropriate time.
“We could, I guess, go wherever we wanted after this year if we didn’t pick the up option up. So, you know, we’ll see. Like I said, all these things will be done in due course.
“We are having discussions, and so we’re hopeful that the county is thinking about it a lot too and wants to get it addressed in a way that would be beneficial to both of us.
“Our stadium obviously needs to continue to be maintained appropriately, and you want to keep it at a certain level that’s important, just so that we’re competitive with others.”
But that could also prove to be complicated as there would be some significant hurdles.
The Bengals would have to adhere to Ohio’s Art Modell Law, which requires professional sports teams to give local groups a chance to buy the franchise due to the relocation.
And NFL owners would need to approve relocation with a majority of at least 24 out of 32.
Nevertheless, it looks like the Bengals and Hamilton County have made real progress towards a deal.
Now the two sides are waiting to see if they can secure the necessary funds.