Bengals and Hamilton County send a strong message together in response to plans for a new Browns stadium

Hamilton County Commissioner Stephanie Summerow Dumas says the request is to ensure the state allocates funds to the NFL club whose stadium leases expires first.

“My concern is the fact the state budget seems to be focusing more on the Cleveland Browns. Our lease ends before theirs,” Dumas said. “Just wondering why is there so much focus on the Browns. It’s not due to lack of effort on our part.”

The $350 million would help cover about 42% of the total cost of the proposed $830 million in renovations to the venue. The most notable change would be completely upgrading the north end zone. Premium club seating and a larger scoreboard would be new additions.

Hamilton County proposed back in September a renovation plan that would've cost $1.2 billion in funding. This new plan is nearly $400 million cheaper and would cover an abundance of stadium upgrades such as new and renovated club sections and suites, upgraded concourses, and "stadium wide vertical transportation improvements" among other enhancements.  

The county will lobby the Ohio Senate before the budget is approved by them. The state's House of Representatives approved the budget Wednesday. The Bengals and Hamilton County finalized their plan late last week according to Ohio House Finance Chair Brian Stewart.

The Bengals have held their stance that a new stadium is not necessary as Paycor Stadium's lease is set to expire on June 30. Cincinnati has the option to exercise the first of five rolling two-year lease renewals, but putting pen-to-paper on a renovation plan before then would ease a lot of tensions between the team and county.