Bengals or Carpetbaggers?

When Paul Brown Stadium opened in 2000, fans were given the opportunity to purchase seat licenses for $150 per seat, and the form they signed to do so gave them the right to buy season tickets for up to 10 years. The Cincinnati Bengals organization later tried to amend that agreement, without the consent of license holders, so that instead of having the right to buy tickets, they were required to purchase tickets, at the rate of anywhere from $850-$2,150 per seat, until their licenses expired.

The club sent out a second contract, which was never signed by license holders, spelling out the new deal that was being forced on the fans by the Cincinnati franchise, which, by the way, has also forced an inferior product on its fans for much of the past decade. And when some fans balked at being forced to buy the season tickets they never agreed to purchase in the first place, the Bengals threatened them with binding arbitration if they refused to cough up the cash.

When push came to shove, a group of fans filed lawsuit (Cincinnati Enquirer) and a three-judge panel agreed that the club's threats of arbitration to enforce a rule that was added after the fact was little more than the attempt of a playground bully trying to take candy from the smaller children.

At a time when this franchise appears to be changing their image (on the field anyway), it is ridiculous that they would find yet another way to alienate their fans. In my view, this incident paints the Bengals organization as either inept or unethical. Personally, I'm leaning toward the former, but would not be surprised if a bit of both are significant factors.