Bengals stadium lease gives franchise option to leave Cincinnati after 2025: Here's what you need to know

From Ja'Marr Chase to Tee Higgins to Trey Hendrickson, the Cincinnati Bengals have been dealing with a lot of contract drama this offseason, but there is one big negotiation that has flown under the radar and that's the team's stadium deal with Hamilton County. 

The Bengals are currently in a stare-down with the county and if nothing gets resolved, there's a chance that the team could be free to leave Cincinnati after the 2025 season.  

Bengals executive vice president Katie Blackburn talked about the situation this week at the NFL's annual league meeting and here's what you need to know: 

Bengals stadium lease expires on June 30, 2026

The Bengals have been playing in Paycor Stadium since it opened in 2000. The team's lease at the building expires on June 30, 2026, but it doesn't HAVE to expire because the lease includes a total of five two-year extensions that can be exercised by the Bengals. 

The team has until June 30, 2025 to pick up the first of those five options and if that happens, then they'll be locked into Paycor until June 30, 2028. However, if the Bengals don't pick up the first two-year option, then all five options will become void, which will set the stage for the entire lease to expire on June 30, 2026. 

The short version here is that the Bengals have less than three months to decide what they want to do and if they decline the option, then they'll be free to move out of Cincinnati following the 2025 season. With less than 90 days to go until the Bengals have to make their decision, Blackburn said the team is taking things "day by day."

"We play it day by day, and like everything else, we just continue to have discussions, see where things are, and then have to make decisions at the appropriate time," Blackburn said, via the Cincinnati Enquirer.

The Bengals could also work out a new long-term lease with the county that would involve making more than a billion dollars in upgrades to Paycor Stadium, but as you're about to see, negotiations aren't going well so far. 

Negotiations with Hamilton County aren't going so well

Hamilton County sent a proposal to the Bengals in September that included $1.25 billion in upgrades for Paycor, but right now, the two parties aren't quite on the same page with what those renovations should look like. 

"We've all been working really hard on looking at a lease extension and renovations that might be part of that," Blackburn said, via The Athletic. "And so there are a lot of great ideas out there. It's just finding a way to bring it all together, make sure everyone's on the same page, and pulling it together. We seem to have a lot of work to do to make that actually happen."

The county's proposal would include not only include improvements to the stadium, but there would also be nearly $350 million spent on a new practice field and indoor training facility for the Bengals. 

Although the two sides are talking, Blackburn admitted that she would like to see some more urgency. 

"We wish there was a little more urgency and it was moving faster," Blackburn said. "I do believe that the county would like to get something done. We just seem to be very slow in making it happen."

The Bengals got a friendly deal with their first lease, which is why the county is now playing hardball. Hamilton County Commissioner Alicia Reece wants to see things change in a big way before agreeing to anything new.

"We're trying to get out of an upside-down lease. Everything else is irrelevant," Reece said in January, via WCPO. "We can't build another thing until we straighten out the relationship contractually between the taxpayers and the Bengal ownership."

The Bengals and the county have had a contentious relationship for years, which could throw a wrench into the negotiations. Back in January, the county and the team both accused the other of violating the terms of the current lease. 

Bengals are very aware that they could move after 2025

If the Bengals don't up pick the two-year option in the lease by June 30, that will set the stage for them to become a free agent team following the 2025 season. The Bengals aren't necessarily looking to move, but the team is very aware that it COULD relocate if it wanted to. 

"We could, I guess, go wherever we wanted after this year if we didn't pick the option up," Blackburn said. "We'll see. Like I said, all these things will be done in due course. We are having discussions, and so we're hopeful that the county is thinking about it a lot, too, and wants to get it addressed in a way that would be beneficial to both of us."

In 1995, Bengals owner Mike Brown flirted with the city of Baltimore before agreeing to stay in Cincinnati after voters gave their stamp of approval to build a new stadium on the Ohio River. 

Bengals seem happy in Cincinnati

The good news for Bengals fans it that the team does seem happy playing in Cincinnati, specifically downtown. 

"We love where we are," Blackburn said. "I'm a big proponent of being downtown. I think that's a great thing for the city. I think the location of the stadium right now is good. I think our stadium, obviously, needs to continue to be maintained appropriately, and you want to keep it at a certain level. That's important just so that we're competitive with others."

The Bengals don't have to have a deal in place with the county to pick up the two-year option. If negotiations are going well, they could pick up the option with the understanding that both sides will continue to work toward a resolution that would see Paycor Stadium get more than a billion dollars in upgrades. In that situation, if the Bengals picked up the option, but the county still played hardball, then the Bengals could simply decline their second two-year option, which would allow them to move as they please after the 2027 season. 

What about Modell's Law? 

The state of Ohio has a unique law that was put in place after Art Modell moved the Cleveland Browns to Baltimore in 1996. The rule makes it harder for a professional sports team to leave the state. Here's the exact wording of the law from the state of Ohio: 

No owner of a professional sports team that uses a tax-supported facility for most of its home games and receives financial assistance from the state or a political subdivision thereof shall cease playing most of its home games at the facility and begin playing most of its home games elsewhere unless the owner either:

(A) Enters into an agreement with the political subdivision permitting the team to play most of its home games elsewhere;

(B) Gives the political subdivision in which the facility is located not less than six months' advance notice of the owner's intention to cease playing most of its home games at the facility and, during the six months after such notice, gives the political subdivision or any individual or group of individuals who reside in the area the opportunity to purchase the team.

Since the Bengals used a tax-payer supported facility, this law would technically apply to them. 

The law essentially says that the city (In this case, Cincinnati) would have to sign an agreement approving of the move OR the team would have to give the city six months notice before moving. During that period, the city or other affluent locals could step up to buy the team. 

If the Bengals were to decide to leave, they would theoretically have to deal with the law but that's not a given. A situation with Modell's Law is currently playing out in court with the state's other NFL team. The Browns want to build a new stadium in Brook Park, which is a suburb just outside of Cleveland, but the city of Cleveland has filed a lawsuit invoking Modell's Law to keep that from happening. The Browns say the law doesn't apply to them for several reasons and one of those reasons is that by the time they move, they'll have played out the full terms of their lease. If the court agrees that the law doesn't apply in a situation where a lease is expired, then the Bengals wouldn't have to worry about the law. 

No matter what happens in Cincinnati, this is going to be a situation that the NFL will certainly have its eye on over the next few months. The Bengals don't exactly have a great relationship with county right now and the team will likely want to see negotiations heading into the right direction before it agrees to pick up the two-year option prior to the June 30 deadline.