Chicagoland? NFL Personality Throws Out Wild Idea About Bengals' Stadium Future

The Bengals and Hamilton County have until June 30 to agree to a new stadium lease.

Paycor Stadium / USA Today Images

CINCINNATI — Could the Bengals move?

Absolutely they could move.

Is it realistic? That answer appears to be a no, at least for now.

Despite that, Mike Florio of Pro Football Talk threw out the idea of the Bengals possibly moving to Chicago and playing in a brand new stadium with the Bears.

"The Bears have a stadium problem. The Bengals have a stadium problem. In theory, they could come together for a Chicagoland venue that would host 20 NFL games per year and pay for itself," Florio tweeted.

He doubled down with another tweet:

"Here's the point: If taxpayer money isn't available for new stadiums in the current political climate, teams will need to get creative. Which could mean putting multiple teams in one stadium, wherever it's feasible. In Chicago, it's feasible."

The chances of this happening might not be zero, but they're closer to zero than they are to one percent.

Yes, the Bengals are in negotiations with Hamilton County about their stadium lease. The deadline to reach an agreement in June 30.

Even if the Bengals and the county didn't reach an agreement, they have rolling two-year options that they could exercise. That would give them time to either seal the deal with the county or move the stadium location.

If the Bengals did move, it would likely be in the Greater Cincinnati area.

“We love where we are,” Bengals Executive Katie Blackburn said last week. “I’m a big proponent of being downtown. I think that’s a great thing for the city. I think the location of the stadium right now is good. I think our stadium, obviously, needs to continue to be maintained appropriately, and you want to keep it at a certain level. That’s important just so that we’re competitive with others.”

If the Bengals didn't pick up the option, they could play elsewhere. That would be a major headache for the organization and the county.

“We could, I guess, go wherever we wanted after this year if we didn’t pick the option up,” Blackburn said. “We’ll see. Like I said, all these things will be done in due course. We are having discussions, and so we’re hopeful that the county is thinking about it a lot, too, and wants to get it addressed in a way that would be beneficial to both of us.”

In an ideal world, the Bengals and Hamilton County would come to an agreement in the near future. This deal is going to take time and we may not get an answer until June 30 or close to it.

Here's the point: If taxpayer money isn't available for new stadiums in the current political climate, teams will need to get creative. Which could mean putting multiple teams in one stadium, wherever it's feasible. In Chicago, it's feasible. https://t.co/LGEZYr3eyH

— ProFootballTalk (@ProFootballTalk) April 5, 2025

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