*
FreeForAll Wednesday riffs on issues of arm-twisting, extortion, posturing and possibly impending threats of relocation. Also, Pete Rose. This one’s gratis. Five a week is a mere $8/month, less than a 6-pack of OK beer and infinitely better for you. Enjoy.
The Great Cincinnati Stadium Game has officially kicked off. Who wants to play?
You could see it coming from 24 years away. That’s how long ago the original Bengals stadium lease was signed. It was as predictable as Cincinnati allergies in springtime. The haggling is right on schedule.
The Bengals are getting antsy. "In terms of moving forward on lease negotiations, there, we've seen no progress," Aaron Herzig, an attorney for the Bengals told The Enquirer this month. "And we're wondering, we really have genuine questions about what the county wants."
Hamilton County says it’s working on it. The stadium lease expires June 30, 2026. The Bengals want substantial progress by June 2025, before they agree to exercise the first of five, two-year lease extensions. Enquirer:
"The team has grown concerned that there really isn’t political will for any deal," wrote Bengals Vice President Troy Blackburn in an email dated Aug. 8, 2023, to Hamilton County Administrator Jeff Aluotto.
And away we go.
I believe The Family is committed to staying here. I also believe The Family is never unaware of the leverage it holds. The quenchless national thirst for NFL football provides an opportunity for the team to take a long, cool drink somewhere else.
Best Case is, the county and The Fam find common ground, taxpayers are good with it and Cincinnati retains its football team. Problem is, the cost would be insane.
Consider: Rather than renovate and update Nissan Stadium, Nashville decided to build a new palace instead. Nissan Stadium is a year older than Paycor. Its lease has the same requirement as the Bengals lease: That the public fund sufficient upgrades so that the stadium “be kept on par with other sports venues built around the same time,’’ according to a story on ESPN.com.
“That project was going to cost approximately $1.8 billion over the next 17 years. The Titans called it "financially irresponsible" to renovate Nissan Stadium instead of building a new facility.
Cost for the new Man Cave: $2.1 billion.
One-point-three bil will be paid by the team and the state, leaving the locals on the hook for $800 million, give or take.
Show of hands: Who has the stomach to spend that kind of money here?
Enquirer: A study completed in 2022 by architect firm Gensler showed the stadium needs $493 million in maintenance and basic upgrades over the next 20 years.
Ouch.
On one hand, maintaining Paycor is good business. It’s no different than keeping your own home in good shape. Recall what a dump Riverfront Stadium had become by the end of its 30-year life.
On the other hand. . . $493 mil in upgrades. Minimum.
The BrownTrust (Enquirer)
Enquirer:
In the e-mail to the county on Aug. 8. Blackburn proposed the county commit $150 million in improvements and repairs to the stadium by the end of 2024 and $150 million by the end of 2025. The Bengals would kick in $50 million. In exchange, the Bengals would extend the lease another five years through 2030. The extension would give the team and county time to work out a long-range solution.
If you want to be cynical about it, you could suggest the Bengals are mainly positioning themselves to be able to throw up their hands and say, “We tried hard to stay here, we wanted to stay here, but we couldn’t get a deal.’’
I’m not that cynical. The team has not pressed the county the way the lease says it could have. To now, upgrades have been minimal. The team has chipped in significantly. Hamilton County has agreed to spend $39 mil on upgrades in ‘24, for new turf, refurbished club seating and an expansion of the stadium plaza. The Bengals called that “a good start.’’
We can expect two years of hand-wringing, blame-gaming and posturing, as a new deal does or doesn’t get done. Maybe one day, the public will Just Say No to spending all this cash on fun-n-games and lining the fat wallets of team owners with another coat of lard. That time ain’t now.
The little cities that aren’t equipped to fund mega-deals like this are also the cities that need their teams the most. Painful irony.
I said this when he was drafted, will say it again: Because of when he was drafted and the success he has had already, Joe Burrow remains the single most important player in Bengals history. If he can deliver the city a Super Bowl, there is very little chance the team will move. If not?
Now, then. . .
ON A RELATED NOTE, Yahoo writes the Chicago Bears want a new place:
The team is set to reveal plans Wednesday for a $4.6 billion project to build a new enclosed stadium on the Lake Michigan lakefront area, according to the Chicago Tribune, with the team planning to pledge $2.3 billion to make it happen. That would leave Illinois taxpayers on the hook for $2.3 billion.
For perspective, that works out to $183 per Illinois resident.
The Bears' lease at Soldier Field, which is nearing its 100th birthday, runs through 2033.
Not to be outdone, the White Sox want a new place, too:
Owner Jerry Reinsdorf revealed the price tag would be closer to $2 billion. He heavily hinted that Illinois declining to cover the money would endanger the team's future in Chicago.
Really? Boy that would be tragic, wouldn’t it? Losing a terrible baseball team that’s been chronically terrible. The current Chisox are 3-20. The historical Chisox have made the postseason all of six times since 1959. Oh, the arrogance.
See ya.
And does anyone really believe the Bears would leave Chicago?
Seen here for perhaps the first time. . .
WHAT THE WORLD NEEDS. . . another book about Pete Rose.
Just guessing, but maybe you already know Pete’s story. He had a little gambling problem that ruined his legacy as one of the best ever to play baseball. He slid head first, he barreled over Ray Fosse, he thought he could outlast Baseball’s sleuths, same as he did Ty Cobb.
He signs his name for money. Quite a bit.
I don’t mean to diminish the work of Keith O’Brien, author of Charlie Hustle: The Rise and Fall of Pete Rose. Book-writing is hard work. And I have no reason to doubt O’Brien’s reporting.
It’s just that reading another Pete Book is like watching Gone With The Wind for the 100th time. Frankly, Keith. . .
“I think my reporting makes it clear that Pete Rose was addicted to gambling,” O’Brien says. Wow. Really?
“If you think about well-known or notorious gamblers in American history,” O’Brien says, “Pete Rose is going to be in that conversation.”
Who knew?
“That belief he could do anything really helped him as a player,” O’Brien reflects. “He was filled with confidence as a player, always believing, as a hitter, that he would prevail, get a hit, get on base … The same quality, the belief he could do anything, the belief he would prevail in the end, was in many ways his undoing off the field.”
Uh-huh.
Apparently, O’Brien offers details on Pete’s marriages and dalliances. Also, not show-stopping stuff, at least not around here. Even if it were. . . so?
Rose’s life is fascinating. His story consumed more of my words than anything else I’ve written here since 1988. Nothing comes close. But at some point, the book needed to be closed. That was about five books ago.
TUNE O’ THE DAY. . . A rare one from the masters of blue-eyed soul. Hall & Oates are just very listenable, yeah?
Perhaps the Bengals can get funding from the next trillions of dollars 'infrastructure' bill if they put solar panels on the stadium.
I wonder what would happen if a crowd-funding campaign could be organized among the Bengal faithful in order to keep them in town, if it came down to it. Would local businesses step up? Would individuals step up? That way, only those with a real interest in the Bengals would give up any money, and average Joe Taxpayer would have no complaints. Isn't the Packers' Lambeau Field publicly owned that way? Plus, we could be the Great American Bengals!