Negotiations are ongoing between the Bengals and Hamilton County over the future of Paycor Stadium. A June 30 deadline looms which will play a key role in deciding how the franchise proceeds with respect to its location. 
The Bengals will have to choose by that date on exercising an option to maintain the current lease with Paycor Stadium and thus remain in the downtown Cincinnati area. Doing so would represent the first of five two-year rolling extensions of the current agreement. Talks on an deal for stadium renovations have not yielded much in the way of recent progress, however.
“We wish there was a little more urgency and it was moving faster,” EVP Katie Blackburn said at the annual league meetings, via Paul Dehner Jr. of The Athletic (subscription required). “I do believe that the county would like to get something done. We just seem to be very slow in making it happen.”
Finances are among the issues yet to be worked out in this case. A $1.3 billion renovation project was proposed in September, but no arrangement has been made with respect to how it would be funded. Use of state money could be an option, although nothing has been decided in that respect yet. A consultant was recently hired by the county to help bridge the gap between the parties; unless significant progress can be made in the coming weeks, though, the situation could notably change.
In the event the Bengals do not pick up the option by the looming deadline, the team’s lease will expire on June 30, 2026. If that were to be the case, the door would be open to the team exploring other locations for the future. Such a scenario would be unlikely, but discussions on that front will no doubt increase unless an agreement can be reached shortly.
“We could, I guess, go wherever we wanted after this year if we didn’t pick the option up,” Blackburn added. “We’ll see… 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.”
Blackburn noted the Bengals’ affinity for remaining in place as negotiations continue. Depending on how they proceed, the possibility of a change in location could become a key talking point for the franchise this offseason.