The Bengals bookended their 2022-2023 season with two firsts: the first back-to-back run to the AFC championships, and the first-ever all-white "White Bengal" players' uniforms in franchise history.
Now, the stadium is getting a new look, too: $20 million in upgrades for the 2023-2024 season. It's the largest in years.
Days before fans return to Paycor Stadium for a sold-out "Back Together Weekend" with players Saturday, the Bengals announced stadium spaces with new White Bengal aesthetics, concessions upgrades, added videoboard features, and more.
Fans entering the stadium will soon see new banners and murals at the gates, new stadium-length LED ribbon screens spanning the field, destination bars at the sidelines, and the players' jungle-themed game day hype video set open to fans for the first time. Bengals Senior Manager of Digital Strategy Caroline Blackburn says the investments hope to offer fans the best game day experience in football.
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"We score really highly with different game day satisfaction scores right now, so our biggest priority will be continuing to listen to the fans," she says. "Our focus has been entirely on giving the fans the best experience in the NFL."
Click through the images below to see some of the planned upgrades.
'Form and function'
The investments are based on both accessibility and popularity. Beyond game day graphics, the new stadium-length LED screens will support captioning visible to fans. To decrease congestion, 78 new easy-access self-service concession stands will allow fans to spend less time in line and more time watching the action.
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"The reason we know this is going to have an impact on the fans is because we use their feedback to guide these renovations," says Payton Phillips, director of fan acquisition and development. He adds the upgrades are based on Bengals season ticket members' feedback in the annual NFL Voice of the Fans survey. "It won't just be form, it'll be function, as well."
The upgrades will continue through the end of the summer: fans will see additional enhancements when the Bengals face-off against the Green Bay Packers on Friday, Aug. 11, and the home opener against the Baltimore Ravens on Sunday, Sept. 17.
'People are going to see some new things'
Bengals Director of Content Seth Tanner says the upgrades this year point to a larger shift within the organization since he joined in March 2020. "There was a philosophical change in how we were going to approach engaging the fans," he says. "It's now a great opportunity in front of us to start making bigger and bigger changes."
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Beyond the stadium's updates this year, Tanner says the Bengals' content team will roll out new in-game traditions and "From the Jungle: Bengals All Access," a new 30-minute documentary exploring current and future upgrades to Paycor Stadium.
"People are going to see some new things," Tanner says. He declined to share additional details.
