The Browns protect their family; I’m protecting mine.
Letters to the editor
| Cincinnati Enquirer
Bengals postgame wrap after loss to Chicago Bears
Enquirer beat reporter Kelsey Conway on the Bengals’ 47-42 loss to the Chicago Bears on Nov. 2.
I canceled my Bengals season tickets today. It wasn’t impulsive. It was a moment of clarity. A recognition that being a fan doesn’t have to mean funding dysfunction.
I love the team. I always will. But renewing my seats felt too much like a vote for the status quo. The Brown family has mastered the art of asking fans and the city for more while delivering less. Every year, ticket prices climb and expectations shrink. The seats cost like contenders, but the product plays like déjà vu.
The Super Bowl run once felt like a turning point. Now it feels like the exception that proved the rule. Hope runs deep in Cincinnati sports, keeping fans paying for potential that never matures. Today I decided to sit this one out and cheer from the financial sidelines. I hope others will too.
I’m not quitting on the Bengals. I’m just done subsidizing a model that rewards mediocrity and excuses with my monthly installment payments. Stewardship goes both ways. The Browns manage their franchise; I manage my pocketbook. They look out for their family; I’ll look out for mine. I’d rather take my wife and kids on a vacation than buy another year of heartache and “we just have to be better next week.”
I’ll still watch, still cheer, still hope − just not from my beloved season ticket seats any longer.
Andy Hill, Fort Mitchell