Paul Brown No More: Bengals Sell Stadium Naming Rights to Paycor

There will be two new stadium names in the AFC North this season, as the Cincinnati Bengals have also announced a name change to their home, selling the naming rights to Cincinnati-based payroll company Paycor to turn Paul Brown Stadium into Paycor Stadium.

The Bengals have never had a naming rights deal, instead choosing to name the stadium after founder Paul Brown when it was built in 2000. That was already a rarity at the time, and the Bengals had been one of just three NFL franchises that did not have a naming rights deal for their home stadium, along with the Green Bay Packers and Chicago Bears.

“This is a move that I think my father would have agreed to. He was always for what is best for the football team,” Bengals president Mike Brown said in a press release. “This partnership allows the Bengals to continue to compete at the highest level in the NFL and exemplifies our long-term commitment to the community.”

The financial details of the deal were not announced.

Money from stadium naming rights is not shared among NFL teams like other revenue, so the Bengals and Steelers will see increased revenues from the deals, but it will probably be more meaningful to the on-the-field product for Cincinnati, which hasn’t been as financially successful as the Steelers have been over the years.

Compared to the Steelers’ change from Heinz Field to Acrisure Stadium earlier this offseason, the move seems more popular to the Bengals fanbase, largely due to concerns that the Bengals, who have frequently failed to spend to the salary cap under Mike Brown’s leadership, would be unable to retain the core of players that took the team to the Super Bowl this January, including quarterback Joe Burrow.

In that way, Paycor will help pay the core and benefit the Bengals long-term.