Will Cincinnati Bengals relocate? Team can 'go wherever we wanted' after 2025
If the Cincinnati Bengals' lease for Paycor Stadium is taking a long time to negotiate with Hamilton County, don't blame the county, Commissioner Alicia Reece said Thursday.
Reece made the comments at a public commission meeting in response to news reports that the Bengals were unhappy with the pace of negotiations.
Reece said the county has been ready to hash out a new lease for over a year.
"I’m ready to get out the blank piece of paper, get out an ink pen and let's get down to the lease," Reece said. "Can we get a deal or can we not get a deal? And I think the taxpayers deserve to know."
Earlier this week, Bengals Executive Vice President Katie Blackburn sat down with reporters in Palm Beach and said the team wishes "there was a little more urgency" in the negotiations, according to The Athletic.
Bengals could 'go wherever we wanted after this year'
A deadline looms for the Bengals. The team has until June 30 to decide whether to exercise the first of five options to extend the current lease by two years.
What if the team doesn't choose to extend the lease? Blackburn wouldn't rule out the Bengals relocating, saying the team could "go wherever we wanted after this year."
"We'll see," Blackburn said. "Like I said, all these things will be done in due course. We are having discussions, and so we're hopeful that the county is thinking about it a lot too and wants to get it addressed in a way that would be beneficial to both of us.”
Reece asked Hamilton County Administrator Jeff Aluotto whether the county was slowing up the negotiations. Aluotto said they are having "direct conversations with the team."
"No one is slow-walking this process," Aluotto said. "We’re moving expeditiously. We’re moving purposefully on this."
Commissioner Stephanie Summerow Dumas agreed with Reece that the county hasn't slowed negotiations.
"We’re moving strategically in what we need to do for the county," Dumas said.
Commissioner Denise Driehaus was not at Thursday's meeting.
Calls on Ohio to put up some money
Reece also took aim at the Ohio General Assembly after the Ohio House introduced proposed legislation that would give the Cleveland Browns $600 million in state-backed bonds to build a new $2.4 billion stadium. It's an amendment to the proposed two-year state budget.
She said the House budget "shuts out the Bengals."
"We can’t be late to the table," Reece said. "We can’t be getting the crumbs ... On every issue they think about us last. I don’t care if you’re a Republican or a Democrat. It’s always a fight to get our fair share down here, to get our respect."
The House budget would scrap Gov. Mike DeWine's proposal to double the state's sports betting tax. DeWine's plan would have used the additional money to pay for renovations to Paycor Stadium and other sports facilities around the state.
DeWine has opposed the House plan and has argued taxpayers can't continue to foot the bill for stadium projects. He wants sports betting companies to shoulder some of the bill.
Aluotto said the county has "a team in Columbus working diligently."
"When things get like this in budget process, there’s a lot of different proposals getting fleshed out," Aluotto said. "We want to make sure we're leading those proposals."
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