Williams: Cincinnati Bengals ownership doesn't care how fans feel

Ask columnist Jason Williams anything − sports or non-sports – and he’ll pick some of your questions and comments from his inbox and respond on Cincinnati.com. Email: [email protected]

Subject: Does Cincinnati Bengals ownership care about fans?

Message: As a Bengals fan since their founding and a former season ticket holder, I keep wondering why I should care when they don't seem to.

Reply: I wonder why you should care, too. Because Bengals ownership does not care about you.

Mike Brown and his family operate in a system where they can do whatever they want without being accountable to anyone. That system allows them to operate in an insular bubble, immune to criticism. It said all you need to know about the Bengals when they were the only franchise to vote against private equity firms being allowed to buy minority stakes in NFL teams last year.

Outsiders' money, voices and opinions aren't welcomed and don't matter to Bengals ownership. That's why they won't hire a general manager and fully staffed scouting department. Ownership thinks it knows best and doesn't want someone coming in and telling Brown and his family to do things differently. Why do you think they always hire career assistants to be head coach instead of an established NFL head coach?

It's the same way the Bengals view criticism from fans and the few journalists in town willing to challenge them. They've never won a Super Bowl and have all-time losing record. Thanks, but Brown and a few others in his small, isolated circle know best and your input isn't needed.

You say you're not renewing seasons tickets after this disastrous season. You write a letter to the editor blasting Bengals ownership. You take to Facebook and tell your friends to also stop buying tickets. You think it'll make an impact and force Brown to change.

Think again.

The Bengals get handed a fat, NFL revenue-sharing check annually – $433 million in 2024 and it'll be more this year – for just being a member of the league. The Bengals get that whether they win every game or go winless. In other words, it's a welfare check from the NFL overlords.

Ownership got handed another sweetheart stadium deal last summer. Taxpayers hardly said a word. And amazingly, some county officials and local media praised the Bengals for their willingness to pay 25% of the Paycor Stadium upgrade costs – because, well, it was more than they paid last time. The bar was that low. The bar is always low for the Bengals, who live by the mantra that it's better to receive than give.

The Bengals have you even when you think you're completely divorced from them and not giving them a dime. You stopped buying tickets. You stopped buying hats and hoodies. You stopped watching them on TV. You stopped listening to their games on the radio. You stopped clicking on their website. Hands completely washed, right?

Well, guess who got a cut off that Coke Zero you bought at UDF in Hyde Park the other day? Or the groceries you bought at Blue Ash Kroger? Or the cheese coneys you inhaled at Clifton Skyline? How about that iced latte you had at Wyoming Community Coffee? Yep, you're helping to fund the Bengals' stadium with the sales tax on every purchase you make, every day across Hamilton County. Brown, his family and their lawyers revel in that.

No wonder the Bengals organization didn't bother to clean the snow and ice off the seats before last Sunday's game. What was the incentive to hire a crew to do that? Most of those seats were already sold whether fans showed up or not. The Bengals announced 64,907 attended. About half that many people were actually there, but it means that many tickets were sold. Thousands of folks paid the Bengals not to show up, like a charitable donation.

Any surprise why the Bengals owner and executives rarely go before the media to answer questions? They don't feel like they owe anyone an explanation for how they operate, even when they're taking millions a year in taxpayer money for the stadium. They don't believe they have to explain why Zac Taylor is returning as head coach and Duke Tobin is coming back as the top player evaluator. The Bengals may be the only billion-dollar mom-and-pop shop in the world.

Does this help put things into perspective as to why the Bengals aren't going to change anything after missing the playoffs for the third consecutive season?

There are no real consequences to the Bengals' bottom line business if running-it-back doesn't work again in 2026 or 2027 or 2028 or beyond. There's no sense of urgency.

Ownership still gets paid.

It still gets its taxpayer-funded stadium upgrades.

And it still doesn't have to care what you or I say.

This article originally appeared on Cincinnati Enquirer: Bengals ownership doesn't care how NFL fans feel