The Cincinnati Bengals and Hamilton County representatives are working on drawing up a new lease for the team at Paycor Stadium.
Hamilton County's administrator says negotiations with the Bengals over the stadium continue as the end of the lease nears. It expires in 2026.
Jeff Aluotto says other recent reporting on the work “largely reflects information that goes back in some cases several years.”
He says the Bengals have made some offers for a new deal.
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“We believe that that is a positive thing,” he says. “It indicates that the team wants to be here; it wants to invest in the stadium; it wants additional investment in the stadium; and it does see a future here in Cincinnati."
But Aluotto also says the team's offers have been to extend the current lease. He says those terms don't meet the county's financing parameters.
Aluotto says the county wants a new agreement to benefit the team and the community, and has sent the team a framework for where they want negotiations to go.
“The county wants to increase the sustainability of the stadium complex, and the competitiveness of the stadium, comparable with other NFL facilities,” he says. “To enhance the public utilization of the stadium and the public engagement associated with the stadium. To maintain and enhance the team’s competitiveness. Improve the ability to program the stadium for year-round events.”
He says while the team can opt to extend the current lease by two years up to five times, the county wants something more permanent.
Aluotto says the new agreement must allow for more public use of the stadium outside of football season and must structure revenues and expenditures to make operations more sustainable.
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“The framework that we provided to the team suggests that the county and the team now should begin to refine that vision in accordance with our joint priorities,” he says. “What are the specific projects in the plan that we both can agree upon, that we both believe are priorities in terms of the future vision of the stadium? And then to scale that project based upon those priorities and in accordance with our available resources.”
He says any renovations covered by the new lease must be consistent with what other NFL teams are doing. A master plan unveiled last year included $1.25 billion worth of renovations.
