CINCINNATI — The Cincinnati Bengals front office is addressing the new stadium lease agreement for Paycor Stadium as a deadline for the county and team nears.

Mike Brown, the owner of the team, shares more about where negotiations stand less with less than two weeks to go.

What You Need To Know

Mike Brown says he believes the new lease with Hamilton County can be signed before the end of the month

The new lease would have the team paying $120 million in stadium renovations, 25% of the total expected cost of the renovations 

Brown said the intention was never to move the team away from Cincinnati 

The Bengals and Hamilton County have just 10 days to sign this new lease agreement to keep the Bengals here in Cincinnati. Mike Brown, the owner of the team, says they want to stay in Cincinnati and that they’re eager to get this deal done.

Mike Brown, the owner of the Bengals, said a new lease is still being negotiated (Spectrum News 1/Katie Kapusta)

The Bengals don’t plan on moving anywhere. In fact, Brown said that’s never been the plan. But with a deadline looming large, he’s hopeful they can get it done.

“It isn’t done yet, it needs to be done by the end of the month,” Brown said. “That’s 10 days and I think it will be.”

Part of the new lease includes the team paying $120 million of the proposed $470 million renovations to the stadium- an increase in 19% from the current lease.

The new lease would include over $400 million in stadium renovations (Spectrum News 1/Katie Kapusta)

For Cincinnati Sports Commission executive director Ben Huffman, the 10-year extension is also massive for the economy of downtown Cincinnati.

“Having the Bengals stay here for 10 years is huge for our community,” Huffman said. “Also shows that we can put on large events nine times a year and can show what this community can do to host regular season NFL games and hopefully more playoff games and things like that.”

Ben Huffman, the executive director of the newly formed Cincinnati Sports Commission, said keeping the Bengals in Cincinnati is huge for the local economy (Spectrum News 1/Katie Kapusta)

For Brown, it’s never been a question of whether or not the team would stay in Cincinnati, and he’s looking forward to many more years in the city he’s come to love.

“We aren’t looking to move, we don’t plan to move,” Brown said. “We want to have a deal that we can make work here. And that’s what’s being negotiated now and I think it will get done and we’ll stay here and I’ll be happy about it.”

And football is just around the corner. In Cincinnati, the Bengals begin training camp on Wednesday, which is the official start of the football season.