Hamilton County not ruling out new Bengals stadium

The Cincinnati Bengals‘ lease on Paycor Stadium expires in 2026, so conversations about that upcoming big deadline continue to surface.

Bengals executive vice president Katie Blackburn recently talked about the plan to upgrade the stadium as opposed to building a new one like other franchises in the NFL recently.

But the Hamilton County Commissioners want outside firm Gensler Sports to include completely new stadium plans in the list of possible solutions to the upcoming situation, per WCPO’s Anna Azallion:

Building a new stadium isn’t completely out of the question for the commissioners either. They asked Tuesday for the master plan to include options for a new stadium as well as for renovations to the current stadium so the county can see the costs for both options.

Commissioners have made it clear they would like Paycor Stadium used for non-NFL events more often given the costs included with the investment.

Last summer, initial work by the firm revealed that the proposed upgrades to Paycor Stadium would sit in the $500 million range. But the WCPO writeup notes that an additional $200 million in expenses for future high-end upgrades could shortly follow.

If nothing else, the county wants the plan — requested for finalization before December — to include alternatives to merely upgrading the stadium. One of those is building a new one outright. It might not be the route either considers very seriously, but there is a push to get it on the plan just in case.