Bengals, Hamilton County commissioners frustrated with pace of stadium negotiations
Talks between Hamilton County and the Bengals on a new Paycor Stadium lease have not progressed as quickly as the team and county leaders have hoped.
And the Bengals are getting impatient, interviews with The Enquirer and communications obtained through an open records request reveal.
"In terms of moving forward on lease negotiations, there, we've seen no progress," Aaron Herzig, an attorney for the Bengals told The Enquirer this month. "And we're wondering, we really have genuine questions about what the county wants."
The Enquirer in January asked for communications between the Bengals and Hamilton County to see the progress on the negotiations expected to start this year. The county responded to The Enquirer's request April 8.
The exchange showed the Bengals growing frustrated with the county this past summer after the team had made several proposals to the county for lease extensions.
"The team has grown concerned that there really isn’t political will for any deal," wrote Bengals Vice President Troy Blackburn in an email dated Aug. 8, 2023, to Hamilton County Administrator Jeff Aluotto after the two met to discuss the lease.
A green light to start negotiations
Hamilton County commissioners in an open meeting Tuesday also expressed anxiousness to start negotiations. Board of Commissioners President Alicia Reece, after receiving an update on current upgrades being made to the stadium, called for the county administration to develop a timeline for the lease negotiations and release it to the public.
"It's time," Reece said. "We need to give everybody a deadline so we're not at the last minute with our back against the wall."
Aluotto, in an interview with The Enquirer on Tuesday, said he took the commissioners' comments as a green light to start lease negotiations once the county in the next two months gets a plan to understand what bigger renovations need to be done to the stadium.
"There’s been a lot of work going on in the stadium getting us prepared for this," Aluotto said. "We still have time. We’ll get this done."
Why the two sides need a deal
Deadlines loom for the team and county on a lease that could result in hundreds of millions of dollars in repairs on Paycor Stadium over the next two decades. The 26-year lease ends in June 2026. The Bengals have a deadline of June 2025 to decide whether to exercise the first of five, two-year extensions allowed under the lease.
After that exchange in August, the county commissioners in December agreed to make $39 million in repairs and renovations to Paycor Stadium in 2024. The repairs include a new turf, refurbished club seating and an expanded plaza to improve entering and leaving the stadium. This is on top of $39 million in upgrades the Bengals made since Jan. 1, 2022, including improved concession stands and LED ribbon boards.
'Only a good start'
Herzig said the team is pleased with the improvements to the plaza and seating the county is making.
"We think it's a good start, but it's not nearly enough just to maintain the building," Herzig said. "So it's only a good start. The big question is what does the county want to do next? And we don't know."
The $39 million in upgrades are still nowhere near the amount Blackburn proposed in the email to the county on Aug. 8. Blackburn proposed the county commit $150 million in improvements and repairs to the stadium by the end of 2024 and $150 million by the end of 2025. The Bengals would kick in $50 million. In exchange, the Bengals would extend the lease another five years through 2030. The extension would give the team and county time to work out a long-range solution, Blackburn wrote.
A study completed in 2022 by architect firm Gensler showed the stadium needs $493 million in maintenance and basic upgrades over the next 20 years. The architect in the study said the price tag doesn't include bigger ticket items for the fan experience, though it didn't specify what those items would be.
These bigger ticket renovations will be addressed in a master plan expected to be completed in June, Aluotto said Tuesday. That master plan was originally slated for completion at the end of 2022.
"The master plan has taken a lot longer than we hoped for," Aluotto said.
Bengals have made proposals
The Bengals have made proposals in the past, Herzig said. In the June email, Blackburn alluded to previous offers from the Bengals to extend the lease in one-year increments and a deal that would span 10 years.
Aluotto, the county administrator, responded in a Sept. 5 email that the county wants to move forward as quickly as possible but that there "appear to be some practical challenges inherent with the approach." Aluotto, in the letter, said it wasn't appropriate to go into detail in the email but offered to speak with Blackburn in person.
Aluotto touted the plans to make capital improvements in the next year, a plan that ended up being the $39 million project underway. He said the county is committed to maintaining and improving the stadium.
"I just want to address your stated concern, as we have discussed previously, that the county absolutely shares the team's desire to keep Paycor Stadium its home for decades to come," Aluotto said in the email to Blackburn.
'It's going to heat up here this year'
The county will be better positioned to negotiate terms of a new lease when the master plan commissioned by the county and the team is completed this year, said Hamilton County Commissioner Denise Driehaus. Driehaus said the county and Bengals have already started talking and the $39 million in repairs shows progress.
"It will ramp up as we get a better sense of the master plan," Driehaus said. "It's going to heat up here this year."
Stadium timeline
March 19, 1996: Hamilton County voters approve a half-cent sales tax to pay for the construction of a football and baseball stadium on Cincinnati’s riverfront.
May 29, 1997: Lease signed by Hamilton County and Bengals for yet-to-be-built Paul Brown Stadium (ow known as Paycor). Lease outlines the responsibilities of the county and team in the construction and maintenance of the stadium.
Aug. 19, 2000: Newly-built Paul Brown Stadium hosts first NFL game, a preseason game between the Bengals and Chicago Bears.
August 2022: Bengals sell the naming rights to the stadium. Paycor HCM Inc. buys the rights, renaming it Paycor Stadium.
Aug. 8, 2023: Bengals Vice President Troy Blackburn emails Hamilton County Administrator Jeff Aluotto, expressing frustration that the negotiations on a new lease haven’t had much progress. Proposes the county put up $150 million in 2024 and $150 million in 2025. The Team would put in $50 million
Sept. 5, 2023: Aluotto responds to Blackburn’s email, proposing investments the county could make to the stadium.
December 2023: County commissioners approve plan to invest $39 million into stadium renovations.
June 30, 2025: Bengals have a deadline to decide whether to extend the current lease by two years
June 30, 2026: Bengals lease with the county for Paycor Stadium expires.
This article originally appeared on Cincinnati Enquirer: Lease negotiations continue between Hamilton County and the Bengals
