11:38am: A 2-0 vote (with one abstention) has taken place to approve the framework of the new lease agreement, ESPN’s Ben Baby notes. As a result, the Bengals are indeed on track to remain in in place through at least 2036.
10:52am: As expected, the Bengals are set to remain in Cincinnati well beyond 2025. A new lease agreement has been reached between the team and Hamilton County, as first reported by Jason Williams of the Cincinnati Enquirer. 
Final approval will not be voted on today, per an announcement from administrator Jeff Aluotto. Nonetheless, unanimous approval from the county’s commissioners is expected. If/when the new lease is in place, speculation about a potential relocation – which picked up in April amidst a lack of progress in negotiations between the parties – will come to an end. June 30 loomed as the deadline for a deal to be struck, and while nothing is official yet it is clear major progress toward a long-term arrangement has been made.
Providing details on the new proposal, Williams’ colleagues Erin Glynn and Quinlan Bentley note the lease in question will be 10 years in length (the existing one runs through 2025). The option also exists for as many as five two-year extensions to be exercised, meaning the Bengals will remain at Paycor Stadium well into the 2030s provided final approval is received. While $830MM in stadium renovations were initially planned, that figure now sits at $470MM.
To no surprise, the split between private and public funding was a point of contention during negotiations. Per the Enquirer report, $350MM in stadium funds will come from the county with the remaining $120MM being contributed by the Bengals. That 75-25 split comes after the previous agreement saw Hamilton County take on an 88% share of costs to the stadium project.
“It’s not perfect, but as often is the case in in tough negotiations, no one leaves the table thinking they got the perfect deal,” Aluotto said when speaking about the proposal agreement (h/t Sports Illustrated’s Jay Morrison). “And I think as you’ll hear, it’s a better deal, a smarter deal than what was done under the previous lease. I’m hoping the team would concur with that.”
The two-year extensions are again the Bengals’ prerogative, Morrison notes. Interestingly, though, he adds the first one will become mandatory if the team reaches the top 24 in terms of revenue amongst the NFL’s 32 clubs. In any event, the team’s future for at least the next 11 years will be assured once the proposed deal receives final approval.
Good for them. The Bengals belong in Cincinnati.
here really should be a statue of Sam Wyche at the stadium entrance with the words “You don’t live in Cleveland’ inscribed.
I wonder if this had something to do with the contract holdups, they had to sell the naming rights for Burrows contracts. I sort of doubt it but you never know.
More welfare checks for billionaires…..
Yeah, the county doesn’t benefit whatsoever. The tens of thousands of people coming to the games don’t park in city owned garages, purchase anything in the shops, stay in hotels or buy food in restaurants. (All of which is taxed also) Nope, no revenue there. The Bengal players don’t pay city taxes, oh I guess I was wrong, they do). Surely the Bengals don’t pay property taxes on their facilities, yeah, they do. But it’s welfare for billionaires. If corporations didn’t pay a crap ton of taxes your tax rates would double and then you would bitch about that.
Literally a story on the same page questions if they’re leaving Cincinnati. Well done.