Bengals Respond After Hamilton County Voices Frustration Over Stadium Lease Negotiations

CINCINNATI — Hamilton County Prosecutor Connie Pillich announced that they fired long-time attorneys Frost Brown Todd on Thursday.

They were overseeing the stadium lease talks between the county and the Bengals. The county is in the process of hiring two firms, including Dinsmore and Shohl.

James Pilcher of Local 12 shared key details from Pillich.

"Pillich says she met with all the commissioners separately, and all expressed frustration over a lack of communication regarding the talks," Pilcher wrote. "She also says the Bengals have all but refused to talk to the county’s lead negotiator, the non-lawyer consultant David Abrams, whom the county hired in January, saying the Bengals are not going to dictate who represents the county."

Those comments certainly got the Bengals' attention. They issued a statement a few hours later:

“Recently, the Tteam was surprised to learn that Hamilton County had retained an outside stadium consultant who is, in fact, performing stadium consulting services for the Cleveland Browns," the Bengals said in a statement. "This was not disclosed to the team initially, and the team undertook research to finally uncover this truth. The team has expressed concern to the county that a stadium consultant performing services for the Cleveland Browns might not have Cincinnati’s best interests at heart."

Hamilton County hired Abrams earlier this year. Clearly the Bengals are leery of Abrams' involvement with stadium talks in Cleveland.

Both the Bengals and the Browns have uncertain futures in their current stadiums and will be asking for state funds.

“The county can decide how it wants to proceed," the Bengals statement continued. "The team felt it appropriate to share concerns over whether parties involved in discussions were working exclusively to advance local interests -- or whether other conflicts might exist.”

The Bengals and Hamilton County have until June 30 to come to an agreement.

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