The Cincinnati Bengals and Hamilton County are requesting $350 million from the state of Ohio to fund renovations to Paycor Stadium.
The proposed renovation plan totals $830 million, which the county says is about a third of the cost of a new NFL stadium. It would include stadium-wide improvements to accessibility infrastructure and enhance Paycor's canopy and roofing systems, along with the addition of new club-level suites, expanded lounges, standing-room patios, and an improved scoreboard in the north end zone.
The request comes soon after Ohio House Republicans passed a version of the state's biennial budget that includes $600 million in 30-year, state-backed bonds for the Cleveland Browns to build a new stadium. The stadium project proposed by Browns ownership totals $3.4 billion and would move the team from their current home at the open-air Huntington Bank Field on Cleveland's lakefront to a domed stadium right next to Cleveland's airport in Brook Park.
Commissioner Stephanie Summerow Dumas says she wants the request to grab the attention of state lawmakers who she says have prioritized Cleveland over Cincinnati despite previous conversations with local leaders in Hamilton County.
"I'm just wondering why there's so much focus on the Cleveland Browns. It's not due to our lack of work. We've presented a lot of information, discussed a lot of things," she said. "But for whatever reason they have not focused on us like they have on Cleveland."
Some state lawmakers have attempted to remove or reduce the funding for Cleveland's new stadium from the budget, citing the team's billionaire ownership and a lack of evidence of a return on the state's investment.
Hamilton County Administrator Jeff Aluotto suggested on Thursday that funding Cincinnati's stadium renovation may be a more frugal investment for Ohio.
"What they're proposing in Cleveland may be a great thing, but what we're proposing down here is a renovation. We don't have to build new. We've taken care of our stadiums. They're very well maintained," Aluotto said. "We've already done this development. It's been spinning off tax revenue for the community and the state for years."
County officials will now wait for their request to be considered by lawmakers as the proposed biennial budget heads to the Senate.
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