Roughly a week after a very public exchange between the Cincinnati Bengals and Hamilton County over the upcoming lease expiration, the two have teamed up to make a surprise request.
According to WCPO's Dan Monk and Paula Christian, the Bengals and Hamilton County requested lawmakers spend $350 million on renovations to Paycor Stadium.
Per the report, the request caught said lawmakers off guard, but the timing isn't an accident -- the Ohio House had just passed a budget that looped in $600 million for the Cleveland Browns to build a new stadium.
"I've not seen anybody in the state legislature put this forward. Their discussion with me was a general discussion. I got the impression that they and the Bengals … had not reached any kind of agreement," Gov. Mike DeWine told WCPO.
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“My concern is the fact the state budget seems to be focusing more on the Cleveland Browns. Our lease ends before theirs,” Hamilton County Commissioner Stephanie Summerow Dumas told the Cincinnati Enquirer. “Just wondering why is there so much focus on the Browns. It’s not due to lack of effort on our part.”
This would represent a new but unsurprising strategy shift for the Bengals and the county. Selling stadium upgrades not as a necessity to keep a team in place, but as an economy-booster for the entire area that will improve lives, is partially what got the Browns' funding on the record.
As WCPO points out, the request is still less than 50 percent of a roughly $830 million renovation project (down from the initial outlined $1 billion plan) that could add $500 million in new investments to The Banks and surrounding areas as a whole.
Nothing is official and this is new for all, but it does represent a new angle -- and one that has already worked within the state for another NFL team.