Hamilton County commissioners agreed Thursday to spend about $39 million on upgrades to Paycor Stadium.
The board approved a memorandum of understanding with the Cincinnati Bengals, promising to pay for things like better wheelchair accessibility, upgrading elevators, and some seat replacement.
"This is the start of this process to try to address some of the things that are basic to that facility being accessible, to being safe for both the players and the fans, and folks that attend concerts and the upcoming events that we all anticipate," said Commissioner Denise Driehaus.
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The money comes from a half-cent sales tax approved by voters nearly 30 years ago, which funded the construction of what is now Paycor Stadium and Great American Ball Park. That tax now funds the ongoing maintenance for the county-owned facilities.
County leaders have long complained about the decades-old contract with the Bengals, saying the team doesn’t take on enough of the cost to maintain the stadium.
"Whether you like football or not, you're paying for it," said Commission President Alicia Reece. "So we've got to go to the table negotiating on behalf of our shareholders, who are the taxpayers of Hamilton County."
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The MOU includes a promise from the Bengals to pay for about $70 million of its own money in other maintenance and upgrades. Driehaus says that's a much better commitment than the team has shown in the past; Reece says the upgrades the team is funding are very self-serving.
"When you're funding concessions upgrades and you get all the concession money, you probably would want to upgrade that," she said. "These are all great things, but these are things that also allow for more revenue. But the taxpayers — we don't get any revenue."
The current lease expires at the end of 2026. Negotiations on a new lease are expected to start in earnest next year.
The negotiation will include how to split the estimated $494 million needed in maintenance and upgrades to make the stadium last another 20 years.
Read the full MOU below:
