Bengals Detail Paycor Stadium Renovation Upgrades, but One Decision Will Disappoint Many Fans

CINCINNATI – The Cincinnati Bengals announced an update of renovations to Paycor Stadium today, and at least one element isn’t going to make a large portion of the fanbase happy.

Since the team announced it would be replacing the playing surface, which was one of just slit-film artificial fields in the league, there has been an outpouring of support on social media to return to the leaping tiger or Bengals head logo as the design for the 50-yard line.

Bengals Bucking Cry for Change, Keeping Midfield Logo

While the field is still being rolled out and no logo has been placed, Bengals director of strategy and engagement Elizabeth Blackburn told bengals.com the team will be returning to the striped block B, the team’s primary logo, as the 50-yard line design.

“We want our field to be immediately recognizable, and our primary logo accomplishes that in a clean, crisp way,” Blackburn said.

“The 50-yard line is the natural spot for a team’s primary logo, and we feel lucky to have a mark that presents well on TV from a distance,” she added.

An update on the Paycor Stadium field and club seats projects 👇https://t.co/T3eP38VJMI pic.twitter.com/OnJIHTQWkD

— Cincinnati Bengals (@Bengals) May 1, 2024

The end zone also will remain largely unchanged, although the stripes are slightly wider in the renderings. The yard-line numbers also appear bolder.

With the stadium lease set to expire in 2026 — although a series of five rolling two-year extensions are worked into the document — Hamilton County Commissioners committed $39 million in renovation projects this offseason.

The locker room is currently under construction, a project that has forced the players into two auxiliary locker rooms in the facility as they begin the offseason program.

Stadium accessibility, technology, and other operations upgrades are also in the works.

“We’ve had great support and collaboration from the county, great support from the construction company (Messer), and it’s been all hands on deck,” John Pope, the stadium capital projects manager, told bengals.com. “There’s been very clear communication. Things are progressing well.”

In addition to replacing the field, other large projects include replacing the seats in the club section, expanding the plaza entrance near Gate D (closest to where Freedom Way stretches from The Banks into the stadium), and an enhanced television system.

The article states that the team listened to the social media suggestions for the leaping tiger, tiger head, and Bengals helmet before deciding to stick with the block B.

The field will have fewer seams after talks between the Bengals, Hamilton County, and FieldTurf resulted in the surface being sewn into one piece at the factory rather than laid in strips.

The new club seats will continue to be forest green in a nod to The Jungle motif the club has wanted since the stadium was built in 2000.

Pope told bengals.com that installing orange seats would have resulted in them fading to pink within a couple of seasons, and black seats would have been too hot to touch in the warmer months.

The article also published a rendering of what the new plaza will look like after it’s widened from 60 to 200 feet. The area has been a congested bottleneck since the stadium opened, and it only got worse with the opening of The Banks and the massive crowds that walk along Freedom Way following the pre-game party there.

The television project will result in nearly 1,600 screens placed around the building, mostly in the general admission concourses and canopy level.

The TVs will operate on a fiber optic system and not be reliant on on-site remotes.

“That’s fantastic because it allows for a better use of resources on game days,” Pope said. “The added TVs really keep the fans connected as they move around the stadium.”