Mike Brown Seeks Option to leave in 2017.

[Kazkal]

Bengals Offer County Cost-Saving Stadium Plan

Team Seeks Option To Leave In 2017

CINCINNATI -- It's been a hot topic issue for several years.

Faced with mounting debt, Hamilton County is trying to keep the stadium fund from running dry, but the Bengals may have a plan to shore up works.

According to a letter sent from the Bengals' front office to the county administrator, the team is willing to forgo millions in payments in exchange for some concessions.

The Bengals are offering an annual rent of $1 million per year through 2014 and they agreed to make certain capital repairs at the stadium.

In the long term, they are willing to forgive $30 million worth of payments starting in 2017.

In exchange, team owner Mike Brown is asking for the county to give its luxury suite back to the team along with the county's portion of any "other event" revenue.

The Bengals also want the rest of the interest on stadium naming rights and they're looking for help on an indoor practice field.

The sum total is about $40 million in savings.

However, the plan comes with a catch. The Bengals want the option to leave starting in 2017.

Hamilton County is still working on fashioning a response.

http://www.wlwt.com/money/22395298/detail.html

[kingwilly]

2017...round about the time he hands the keys to Snowflake.

SoP would probably prefer to spend his last decade-and-a-half on earth in a climate that offers more "heat therapy"...

Jags going to LA....

From a business standpoint, it is the ultimate leverage/fear chip. Hang it out there and get what you want.

[Kazkal]

Hey atleast Indoor practice was mentioned,But even if jaguars go to LA the Governator wanted 2 teams.

[Whur CHad At?]

Wait 2017, won't we be under water from global warming by then?

[Kazkal]

Wait 2017, won't we be under water from global warming by then?

I thought the world was going to blow up in 2012 myself.

[cincyhokie]

Wait 2017, won't we be under water from global warming by then?

That's irrelevant. The world is ending in 2012.

[BengalszoneBilly]

Wait 2017, won't we be under water from global warming by then?

That's irrelevant. The world is ending in 2012.

With our luck the Bengals will be in the midst of an undefeated season.

[Kazkal]

Bengals vs Lions SUperbowl... score is 21 Lions 20 Bengals 5 Seconds left on the clock and Bengals Kicker Shayne Graham Attempts a 55 yard kick it's going down the middle it's going to be go......."World Ends"

[SupaBran]

what a douche...i hope his life is finalized b4 anything is agreed upon

[cincyhokie]

Bengals vs Lions SUperbowl... score is 21 Lions 20 Bengals 5 Seconds left on the clock and Bengals Kicker Shayne Graham Attempts a 55 yard kick it's going down the middle it's going to be go......."World Ends"

I'll take it!

We can discuss our SB win in the afterlife!

[Kazkal]

But the Kick didn't make it since the Ball Blew up as the world was destroyed.

[BengalPimp]

But the Kick didn't make it since the Ball Blew up as the world was destroyed.

And even though he would have been gone a couple of years already, it would STILL be Shayne Graham's fault.

[BlainThePain]

Wait 2017, won't we be under water from global warming by then?

I thought the world was going to blow up in 2012 myself.

The world will end way before all of this because of Y2k when 2000 comes.

[Ickey44]

Why is he always trying to move this team? I don't understand it.

[cincyhokie]

But the Kick didn't make it since the Ball Blew up as the world was destroyed.

Oh ok. A spontaneous combustion of the earth. I was thinking more of an implosion. This might give the ball time to make it through.

[HairOnFire]

Why is he always trying to move this team?

Toxic local political climate. Toxic local press. Toxic fanbase. A bottomed out local economy based upon rust, beets, and pork byproducts.

Sadly, I don't think Brown is seriously considering moving the team. However, when you willingly give away nearly 40 million bucks in concessions you typically get SOMETHING back, and an option to leave forces the county to renegotiate in a few years, presumably in a better economic climate.

Here's a better question. Now that Brown has bailed out the county....will we see any improvement in Mike Brown's reputation, as once claimed by pinheaded dinks like Paul Daugherty?

I'm guessing, no.

[COB]

Daugherty couldn't have asked for a better development. He can now go back to spinning Mike Brown as Mr. Potter, Cincinnati as Bedford Falls, and himself as George Bailey. His column will probably read something like this:

"You sit around here and you spin your little webs and you think the whole world revolves around you and your money. Well, it doesn't, Mr. Potter. In the whole vast configuration of things, I'd say you were nothing but a scurvy little spider."

[Ickey44]

Sadly, I don't think Brown is seriously considering moving the team.

You want them to move?

[jjakq27]

It's funny that when I first saw the headline and skimmed the article I thought it was a positive gesture on the part of the Bengals.

From the side bar of the original online article:

The Bengals are not asking for an earlier option to get out of the lease and possibly leave the city. Under the heading of long-term assistance, the club is asking for the option to maintain lease terms spelled out for 2016.

From this morning's Commissioner's meeting:

http://cincinnati.co...eal-for-county/

[derekshank]

Sadly, I don't think Brown is seriously considering moving the team.

You want them to move?

I don't speak for Hair... but since I know he lives in Cali and never cheered for the Bengals because of their location - he'd be tickled pink if they moved to L.A.

[TJJackson]

Now that Brown has bailed out the county....

He really hasn't

He knows that the money is is scheduled to receive is not going to be there, given the economy. The old expression about squeezing water out of a stone comes to mind

So then, some weasel on his staff conceived the notion of - well, if we cant get the money, what can we get?

They then came up with

1) PR - make it look like we are all generous and kind and stuff by publicly 'forgiving' debt that we know (but the public doesn't) is uncollectable

2) get the luxury box back - we can sell that and make a little bit of money. why not?

3) get rights back, including (but not limited to) the right to move - the new town we move to will bid millions to get us to come and we'll make up for the money we 'forgave' to Hamilton County and then some

So if in 6 years the people of the county are still paying sales tax and the county performing debt service for a now empty stadium with no hope of landing a new NFL team - exactly who got bailed out? And who took got a second round of screwing? (Hint - the County is the latter case)

[HoosierCat]

Interesting proposal. Hard to comment yea or nay without some idea of what the county would be giving up in terms of future revenues. Given Mike Brown's rep when it comes to wheeling and dealing, my guess is that Bengals think they'll make more money long-term with those additional revenue streams. Still, even if that's the case, it may be worth it to the county given the economy.

[COB]

The county may not want to give up those future revenues. But they really should look no further than their business partner Mike Brown when evaluating this proposal.

Why is Mike willing to renegotiate? Because those "future revenues" that looked so promising to him just a few years ago now look like they might not even be there.

These future revenues that Hamilton County doesn't want to part with are similar. There are conditions precedent that must be met for them to realize those revenues.

Hamilton County is in an odd position. They are tremendously weak financially, so weak that they may not be able to meet contractual financial obligations to the Bengals.

In their great weakness there lies great strength. It is what Mike Brown senses and why he is coming to the table now. I'm talking about bankruptcy, and I guarantee you Mike Brown and Pumpkin are thinking about it. If Hamilton County has to file bankruptcy, they will get themselves released from that contract. The County will very likely end up retaining ownership of the stadium. The Browns will then have to go back to the table and negotiate a new lease, or look elsewhere for a City to take them in and provide a better lease. Both options are messy and expensive.

The Bengals would like to stay in Cincinnati under some form of the current lease. They would like that very much, I think, and the County would be well-served to take the proposal extending the lease very seriously. Because I think they can get such an extension from the Bengals, and they won't have to give up nearly what is currently being proposed.

What I read about that Portman guy's statements concerns me. Emotion and bitterness has no part in these negotiations. If you can't go into such negotiations with a cold and calculating heart, then you are doing your client a disservice. Hamilton County is in a very strong position, and they should bargain very hard with the Brown family on this, I think they can get concessions that would serve the taxpayers very well.

[BengalPimp]

Sadly, I don't think Brown is seriously considering moving the team.

You want them to move?

I don't speak for Hair... but since I know he lives in Cali and never cheered for the Bengals because of their location - he'd be tickled pink if they moved to L.A.

SO WOULD I !!!!!!!!!! The Los Angeles Bengals has a nice ring to it, and I wouldn't have to wait until they play the Chargers to see games live....

[HoosierCat]

The county may not want to give up those future revenues. But they really should look no further than their business partner Mike Brown when evaluating this proposal.

Why is Mike willing to renegotiate? Because those "future revenues" that looked so promising to him just a few years ago now look like they might not even be there.

These future revenues that Hamilton County doesn't want to part with are similar. There are conditions precedent that must be met for them to realize those revenues.

Hamilton County is in an odd position. They are tremendously weak financially, so weak that they may not be able to meet contractual financial obligations to the Bengals.

In their great weakness there lies great strength. It is what Mike Brown senses and why he is coming to the table now. I'm talking about bankruptcy, and I guarantee you Mike Brown and Pumpkin are thinking about it. If Hamilton County has to file bankruptcy, they will get themselves released from that contract. The County will very likely end up retaining ownership of the stadium. The Browns will then have to go back to the table and negotiate a new lease, or look elsewhere for a City to take them in and provide a better lease. Both options are messy and expensive.

The Bengals would like to stay in Cincinnati under some form of the current lease. They would like that very much, I think, and the County would be well-served to take the proposal extending the lease very seriously. Because I think they can get such an extension from the Bengals, and they won't have to give up nearly what is currently being proposed.

What I read about that Portman guy's statements concerns me. Emotion and bitterness has no part in these negotiations. If you can't go into such negotiations with a cold and calculating heart, then you are doing your client a disservice. Hamilton County is in a very strong position, and they should bargain very hard with the Brown family on this, I think they can get concessions that would serve the taxpayers very well.

Very good points. Again, I simply don't know enough of the financial situation to make a judgement. But that said, everything you say makes sense.