Fans Ripped Bengals Ownership After Failing to Clear Snow From Seats Before Kickoff

It was a bitterly cold day across NFL stadiums on Sunday.

There was plenty of snow across the NFL on Sunday. / Jason Miller/Getty Images

The early window of Week 15 of the 2025 NFL season saw weather make an impact on stadiums across the league.

Teams and fans alike had to battle the bitter cold, strong winds, and in some cases heaps of snow to celebrate their weekly dose of football.

Some of those fans had to battle a bit harder than others. As noted by ProFootballTalk, in Cincinnati, seats were not cleared of snow before fans arrived at the stadium, in apparent violation of league rules.

A look at a brutally cold Paycor Stadium in Cincinnati, where there is ice on the field and snow on the seats for Ravens at Bengals.

The current temperature is 3 degrees with a minus-13 wind chill. pic.twitter.com/hAKdEj9tZc

— Jamison Hensley (@jamisonhensley) December 14, 2025

“Seat aisles were prioritized and are in good shape,” the Bengals said in a statement to PFT. “Seats are easily wiped off and ushers are equipped to help there.”

While that’s a reasonable enough explanation, fans were still clearly frustrated with the team’s ownership, arguing that clearing the seats was a simple enough problem to solve, especially for fans who were braving the cold to support a team just barely hanging on in the playoff race.

"It will melt by kickoff" - Mike Brown probably

— Big Mike (@Poopaloop_NFT) December 14, 2025

Mike Brown is such a cheap loser and it’s widely known and well documented.

Your fans show up after a big snowstorm to watch a 4-9 team and you don’t even do the most basic and required courtesy.

Coming from a former A’s fan, a shit owner just a terrible thing to endure https://t.co/aOOYK8XWts

— Ben Koo (@bkoo) December 14, 2025

Sorry franchise too cheap to wipe snow away. Is anyone really surprised? https://t.co/YqDLELnTgJ

— Jason Grefer (@JasonGrefer) December 14, 2025

You know, if tickets were $10 or whatever, fine. I can sweep the snow from my seat. For $197 and then $20 for a Budweiser? No way. Clear it yourself. https://t.co/SduR7S5QIG

— Jon Hassell (@jghassell) December 14, 2025

As many noted, part of the issue is the fact that Mike Brown has something of a reputation for being unwilling to spend on his team. The Bengals have been graded as one of the worst teams in the league in every year of the NFLPA’s annual report cards, with specific poor grades given in categories like Treatment of Families and Food and Dining.

While the Bengals handed out monster contracts to their offensive star trio of Joe Burrow, Ja’Marr Chase and Tee Higgins in recent years, there’s more to spending in support of an NFL team than building out the roster.

It seems many fans view the dereliction of duty with regard to clearing snow as evidence of a more serious issue.

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