The Hamilton County has released renderings and images showing what the Paycor Stadium in Cincinnati, Ohio (US) could look like if it undergoes a massive renovation.
‘SPRINGFIELD NEWS-SUN’ stated that the Hamilton County Commission President Alicia Reece recently met with the Governor of Ohio Mike DeWine to ask for State funding.
The 65,515-capacity Paycor Stadium, previously known as the Paul Brown Stadium, is an outdoor football stadium in Cincinnati, Ohio (US). It is the home venue of the Cincinnati Bengals of the National Football League (NFL) and opened on August 19th, 2000.
The Cincinnati Bengals are a professional American football team based in Cincinnati, Ohio (US). The Bengals compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league’s American Football Conference North Division. The club’s home games are held in downtown Cincinnati at the Paycor Stadium.
‘SPRINGFIELD NEWS-SUN’ further stated that the renderings show a massive retooling of the stadium’s North end zone sections with new club seats and other premium seating options as well as a large viewing patio and a giant scoreboard.
Green Spaces
‘bleacherreport.com’ stated that the administration of Hamilton County looked at renderings and plans for $1.2 billion in planned renovations to the Cincinnati Bengals’ Paycor Stadium.
The renderings show more green spaces surrounding the arena as well as an indoor practice facility beside the stadium.
‘bleacherreport.com’ further stated that the projections show Central Avenue, the road which the Bengals players must cross to reach the team practice fields from Paycor, transformed into a pedestrian walkway.
Whether the proposed renovations will be privately or publicly funded depends on the ongoing lease negotiations between the team and the county.
The lease is currently set to expire on June 30th, 2026, but that deadline could be pushed back in the short term via two-year extensions. If unable to settle on a longer-term extension the Bengals will need to decide whether to exercise the first of five possible extensions by June 2025.
The plan proposed did not specify who would pay for the proposed renovations but the Hamilton County Commission President Alicia Reece told attendees that the new arrangement would be different than the county’s last agreement with the Bengals.
The Bengals stadium has been mostly publicly-funded since the county voters approved a half-cent sales tax increase in an effort to keep the team in Cincinnati in 1996. Reece has previously said that the venue receives 95 percent of its funding from public money.
The taxpayers have since then contributed more than $1 billion to the stadium when taking into account original construction, renovations and interest payments.
Remarked Reece, “The current funding model we can’t go back to that.”
Reece has previously said she wants the NFL to contribute $100 million to the project alongside funding from the county, the State and the team.
New York (US)-based the National Football League (NFL) is a professional American football league that consists of 32 teams divided equally between the American Football Conference and the National Football Conference.
In addition to the changes to the space outside the stadium, the renderings presented by Cincinnati architect MSA Sport propose in-arena changes. These include a larger scoreboard as well as more seats on the North side of the stadium to give the venue 360-degree seating.
Cincinnati (US)-based MSA Sport is focused on the programing, planning and design of the sports facilities. The team brings an in-depth knowledge of planning and design for every aspect of the athletic experience and take pride in incorporating as much innovative design into the support facilities as they do in the eye-catching main venues.
The architects also proposed an increase in club and suite seatings but not an increase in the overall stadium capacity.
Which changes end up being put into effect at the Paycor Stadium will depend on the upcoming lease negotiations and the determination of which parties will pay for the renovations.
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