Taxpayers to Sue Bengals -

I heard a blurb about this on WFNZ this afternoon, about the taxpayers in the CO. that the Stadium resides in bringing a lawsuit against the Bengals for failing to field a competitive team. Anyone know of any links regarding this?

I bet their stance is "We agreed to build the new stadium with the intention in mind that it would create more revenue for the Bengals and it would then allow them to keep good players and field a competitive team." Somehow a breach of contract has got to be part of this...

Kinda reminds me of the Hornets though. Although they fielded a competitve team, they purposely did not seek out sponsors, ticket sales, season ticket renewals, or provide any kind of eye catching or enthusiastic sales promotions. Although, I don't think the Bengals are doing this on purpose.

 

Here's the story...

County studies suing hapless Bengals


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Prosecutor to review stadium lease


By Mark Curnutte [email protected]
The Cincinnati Enquirer

County commissioners unanimously agreed Wednesday to send the Bengals' stadium lease to the prosecutor's office for a legal opinion on whether the team has violated the agreement by failing to field a competitive team.

Todd Portune received support from fellow commissioners John Dowlin and Tom Neyer to ask Hamilton County Prosecutor Mike Allen to review the lease.

“They are asking for a legal opinion on the viability of taking legal action,” Allen said.

Portune brought up the issue Wednesday morning at a commission meeting at Finneytown High School. He referred to a sentence in the lease that says the one-half percent increase in the county's sales tax was needed to “keep competitive and viable major league football and baseball teams in Cincinnati by construction of a new football stadium in Hamilton County.”

Said Portune, “Has the long losing record of poor performances on the field risen to violate the express or implied conditions of the agreement?”

Troy Blackburn, the Bengals business development director, said the organization had no comment about Wednesday's action.

Steve Alic, an NFL spokesman, said, “We will not have any comment on that.”

One commissioner cannot send an item to the prosecutor's office for research. That move requires an agreement by two or more commissioners.

“I am not an attorney,” Dowlin said when asked why he went along with Portune. “The prosecutor is our legal advisor. I have no idea if we have legal grounds. Geez, let's see.”

Dowlin repeated in an interview a comment that he made during the sales-tax debate. It passed in March 1996.

“I would have gone to the train station and kissed them goodbye,” he said Wednesday of the Bengals, which threatened to leave if they didn't get a new stadium from voters. “From the beginning, it was very obvious to me the Bengals were making money and the Reds were not.”

The sales-tax increase also is financing construction of the Reds' Great American Ballpark, which will open next baseball season.

The Bengals are 0-6, the league's only winless team. They are 10-28 since moving into Paul Brown Stadium, the taxpayer-financed facility that opened in September 2000. They have sold out just seven of 19 home games there.

“My layman's view is that we don't have a legal leg to stand on,” Neyer said, “but I am a layman. So it makes sense for us to consult with our attorney.”

Neyer also said that he thinks the county's stadium lease with the Bengals is consistent with other professional sports leases.

“Everybody would feel better if the Bengals were 6-0 instead of 0-6,” Neyer said. “But how you feel is different than the letter of the law. I still think it is a good thing for Hamilton County that we have a professional football team.”

 

Don't know the specific link, but the USA TODAY ran a small story about this in their sprts section today. You might want to look there.

Edit: A little late with that I guess.

 

The Bengals need to be sued by the NFL for impersonating a Pro Football team.

 

There was recently a petition to the NFL to have Mike Brown released from his role as GM or to have him forced to sell. The petition was online and actually made the news. I signed it just because I am sick of them loosing. Between that and this story about a lawsuit and Corey Dillon threatening to retire, I wonder if Brown is oblivious to the fact that he is direclty responsible for this piece of crap of a team. The fans have been more than patient whats left of them. In the petition it linked the time of loosing seasons directly to his control of the team. I sure hope that for the fans sake something can be done with that team. There is not a cap issue only someone who is apparently a complete idiot, running it. Remember on draft day their number one pick, (can't remember who it was), but Kiper and company were litteraly blown away and said well it's the Bengals. I could care less about them in general, but just think if we lived in Cinci, how that must really suck. Even Bledsoe snubbed them, and I don't blame him either. I say force a sale then recruit a winner GM and coach IE Jimmy Johnson or Parcells (not that they'd go there but they would be a God there). What a mess.

 

Yeah they did reach for Levi Jones but that was what they needed and though they didn't get the value out of the 10th pick but Jones was rated in the 1st rd just not at #10.


Brown is the direct reason the Beglas suck IMO. Think about it they were in the Super Bowl in what '89? from that point they went downhill and went quick and have stayed there. I don't think they should force a sell but something should be done.

ie. force him out of the GM role.

 

They won 5 more games than we did last year.

Can we sue the Panthers?

 

They have been 0-6 something like 5 or 6 times in the past 10 yrs.?