Quote:PALM BEACH, Fla. — Cincinnati Bengals executive vice president Katie Blackburn sat in a serene courtyard at The Breakers hotel Tuesday with a small media contingent that traveled to the NFL’s annual league meeting. Her plate has been full of late, with contracts for stars Tee Higgins and Ja’Marr Chase, a negotiation ongoing with edge rusher Trey Hendrickson, and free agency.

One matter of business that didn’t match the peacefulness of the surroundings has come to the forefront, though. A June 30 deadline to exercise the first of five two-year rolling extensions of the Paycor Stadium lease approaches. It will be an inflection point for keeping the Bengals on The Banks in downtown Cincinnati.

Blackburn said she’d prefer to be offering encouraging details of a deal coming together with Hamilton County and have an optimistic tone about the state of landing a renovation deal downtown.

That’s just not the case.

Instead, she could only reflect her tone of the negotiations as “neutral” and acknowledge a sizable gap doesn’t seem to be closing as the clock ticks.

“We wish there was a little more urgency and it was moving faster,” Blackburn said. “I do believe that the county would like to get something done. We just seem to be very slow in making it happen.”

The county unveiled renderings and details of a $1.3 billion renovation proposal in September, featuring new team training and headquarters, practice fields and increased connectivity to The Banks beyond the in-stadium updates.

Those served as a jumping-off point but did not necessarily share the same vision or financial investment as the Bengals would prefer. A series of contentious emails between VP Troy Blackburn and county administrator Jeff Aluotto surfaced in January reflecting a negotiation that wasn’t anywhere near completion or contentment with the direction of talks.

The county recently hired David Abrams of Inner Circle Sports, based in New York City, as a consultant in the negotiations. He has helped negotiate deals in Atlanta, Houston, Miami, Tampa, Jacksonville and Nashville. He arrived with a specific understanding of what should be in these types of deals with hopes of bridging the gap.

Blackburn sees roadblocks despite everyone’s efforts.

“We’ve all been working really hard on looking at a lease extension and renovations that might be part of that,” she said. “And so there are a lot of great ideas out there. It’s just finding a way to bring it all together, make sure everyone’s on the same page, and pulling it together. We seem to have a lot of work to do to make that actually happen.”

Meanwhile, in Cleveland, the stadium discussions have remained ugly with lawsuits between the Browns and city of Cleveland over the ownership’s desire to move the team out of downtown and into an indoor stadium and entertainment district in suburban Brook Park. They are angling for proposed state funding to help cover the expenses of the $2.4 billion football mecca.

State funding could also be part of the solution in Cincinnati, but how much and to whom it goes are yet to be determined.

If the Bengals don’t reach a deal or exercise the first two-year extension by June 30, the lease will officially expire on June 30, 2026.

The Bengals at that point, theoretically, would be free to find other options.

“We could, I guess, go wherever we wanted after this year if we didn’t pick the option up,” Blackburn said. “We’ll see. 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.”

All this brings up the obvious question, posed to Blackburn: If a deal can’t be reached with the county, is there a possibility the team would be open to moving to another county in Ohio or Kentucky?

“We love where we are,” Blackburn said. “I’m a big proponent of being downtown. I think that’s a great thing for the city. I think the location of the stadium right now is good. I think our stadium, obviously, needs to continue to be maintained appropriately, and you want to keep it at a certain level. That’s important just so that we’re competitive with others.”

There’s been a building boom of sorts in the NFL, with nearly a third of the clubs dealing with stadium issues.

The Carolina Panthers, Jacksonville Jaguars and Baltimore Ravens recently approved renovations of existing downtown stadiums. The Tennessee Titans, Buffalo Bills and Cleveland Browns (pending) are building new, multibillion-dollar stadiums. The Kansas City Chiefs are weighing a move to Kansas after Missouri voters rejected a renovation proposal. The Chicago Bears are potentially moving out of downtown to suburban Arlington Heights.

Considering the Bengals’ situation and actions across the NFL landscape, Blackburn was then asked whether other counties have reached out to check on the possibility of a move.

“It’s not where we are focused at the moment,” she said.

The overall theme from Blackburn is that the Bengals’ situation is no different from the rest of the NFL. They want to stay downtown in a renovated Paycor Stadium, but there’s concern from ownership about the lack of urgency in finding a deal to make that happen.

“At the end of the day, I guess we’re playing it one day at a time,” Blackburn said. “We’ll just have to see where it all goes.”

(04-03-2025, 12:39 PM)Bengalbug Wrote: “We could, I guess, go wherever we wanted after this year if we didn’t pick the option up,” Blackburn said. “We’ll see. 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.”

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Is this a Cold War type of front Katie is putting up?  On one hand, tax payers have committed a lot to the Bengals.  On the other hand, I’d imagine another city (St. Louis?) would HAPPILY welcome the current iteration of the Bengals and the revenue it brings to the city.  

You gotta say this about Katie, she handles everything in about the same manner.

Quote:No owner of a professional sports team that uses a tax-supported facility for most of its home games and receives financial assistance from the state or a political subdivision thereof shall cease playing most of its home games at the facility and begin playing most of its home games elsewhere unless the owner either:

(A) Enters into an agreement with the political subdivision permitting the team to play most of its home games elsewhere;
(B) Gives the political subdivision in which the facility is located not less than six months' advance notice of the owner's intention to cease playing most of its home games at the facility and, during the six months after such notice, gives the political subdivision or any individual or group of individuals who reside in the area the opportunity to purchase the team.

(04-03-2025, 01:11 PM)ochocincos Wrote: Wouldn't the ownership have to first offer someone else to purchase the Bengals before it could be moved out of Ohio due to the Art Modell Law when he took the Browns out of CLE? Or would that not apply when the county taxes stop? I would think it would apply indefinitely if the County helped fund PBS and they would have to build a whole new facility that is not taxpayer-funded to get out of this law?

https://codes.ohio.gov/ohio-revised-code/section-9.67

EDIT - Honestly, I also really dislike how cold KB operates. Hardlines everything. Doesn't seem to have a compassionate bone in her body.

(04-03-2025, 01:20 PM)Luvnit2 Wrote: It appears Bengals cold not renew the lease and then give 6 months notice. The Bengals offering someone the opportunity to buy the team still gives the team control. They set the price so they could ask an outageous price, the same price they could get from another city to move.

(04-03-2025, 01:25 PM)ochocincos Wrote: That seems like a s**tty loophole.

I would think it would be some evaluation of the worth of the franchise by some 3rd party.
Otherwise, yea I agree that's a way to get around the law.

(04-03-2025, 03:31 PM)TheLeonardLeap Wrote: I'm progressively hating Katie more with every time she talks to the media.

Lets say you leave, and you take the risk that nobody is going to buy the Bengals from you (which I don't believe you'd do while Mike is still alive). Where are you going that's going to give you a big piece of land and a taxpayer funded stadium? Not only is that time largely over with a lot of cities voters rejecting deals, but also give it to YOU, the Brown/Blackburn family specifically. Everyone knows how you operate.

You don't have the money to build a Patriots Place or Jerry World complex anywhere so you'd largely be in the exact same situation elsewhere soon enough. Hell, you won't even extend your sack king DE and one of only three great players on your team, how are you going to pay the hundreds of millions of dollars relocation fee?

Stop being putzes, you became billionaires thanks to tax dollars and turned around and made Bengals tickets the 7th most expensive in the NFL. F that. Now use your own valuation to pay for your own continued wealth increase. No more tax dollars to sports teams.

(04-03-2025, 03:25 PM)guyofthetiger Wrote: Personally, I can't afford the ticket prices anymore to go to a game so just let them play wherever they want. I'm not a fan of going downtown either.

(04-03-2025, 03:31 PM)TheLeonardLeap Wrote: I'm progressively hating Katie more with every time she talks to the media.

Lets say you leave, and you take the risk that nobody is going to buy the Bengals from you (which I don't believe you'd do while Mike is still alive). Where are you going that's going to give you a big piece of land and a taxpayer funded stadium? Not only is that time largely over with a lot of cities voters rejecting deals, but also give it to YOU, the Brown/Blackburn family specifically. Everyone knows how you operate.

You don't have the money to build a Patriots Place or Jerry World complex anywhere so you'd largely be in the exact same situation elsewhere soon enough. Hell, you won't even extend your sack king DE and one of only three great players on your team, how are you going to pay the hundreds of millions of dollars relocation fee?

Stop being putzes, you became billionaires thanks to tax dollars and turned around and made Bengals tickets the 7th most expensive in the NFL. F that. Now use your own valuation to pay for your own continued wealth increase. No more tax dollars to sports teams.

(04-03-2025, 03:51 PM)Frank Booth Wrote: I look back and laugh when fans were praising katie blackburn saying she would save the bengals lol

(04-03-2025, 04:02 PM)Luvnit2 Wrote: Interesting it amuses you when other fans are disappointed.

You must be great at parties.

(04-03-2025, 03:57 PM)SunsetBengal Wrote: Did you read her actual quotes in the article that I added to post #2? She doesn't say anything off-putting.