Paul Brown Stadium is a football stadium located in Cincinnati, Ohio. It is the home of the Cincinnati Bengals of the National Football League. It
opened on August 19, 2000. Bucking a recent trend, the city decided against selling the naming rights of the new stadium to a large corporation
and named it after coaching legend Paul Brown, a member of the Pro Football Hall of Fame who founded not only the Bengals in 1966, but also
the Cleveland Browns in 1946.
In 1996, Hamilton County voters passed a one-half percent sales tax increase to fund the building of two new facilities for both the Bengals and
the Major League Baseball Cincinnati Reds. Previously, the Bengals and the Reds shared occupancy of Riverfront Stadium/Cinergy Field, but
both teams complained that the aging multipurpose facility lacked modern amenities and other things necessary for small market teams to survive.
Paul Brown Stadium was built first. After the Bengals moved into Paul Brown Stadium a large section of Cinergy Field was removed and the field
was sodded with natural grass. The partial demolition was done to facilitate the construction of the Reds' Great American Ball Park.
Paul Brown Stadium is located on approximately 22 acres (89,000 m²) of land and has a listed capacity of 65,535. The Bengals are the sole
tenant. They played their first game in Paul Brown Stadium against their intrastate rivals, the Cleveland Browns.
Originally, the field was natural Kentucky Bluegrass, but problems arose in maintaining it. At one point, the field was rated as the third-worst field
in the league by the NFL Players Association. Hamilton County, the owners of the stadium, explored other options and the revolutionary FieldTurf
system won out. FieldTurf looks and feels like real grass, and since the field markings are actually sewn into the fabric, repainting between
games is unnecessary. The reduced maintenance saves the county approximately $100,000 annually. Additionally, it opens Paul Brown Stadium
to other uses without worry of damage to the turf. The FieldTurf was installed for the 2004 season.
The first college game played in the stadium came on September 21, 2002 between the University of Cincinnati and the eventual national
champion Ohio State Buckeyes.
Two high-definition video-equipped scoreboards at either endzone ensures that every fan has a good view of the on-field action.
Paul Brown Stadium also houses the Bengals' administrative offices and training facilities. In addition, there are three smaller practice fields
nearby. Two are sodded with natural grass while the third is equipped with FieldTurf.
As a convenience for fans, for a nominal fee, several local busing companies offer round trip transportation to Paul Brown Stadium from
designated locations throughout the Cincinnati and Northern Kentucky area. One such example is the Cincinnati Metro's Jungle-to-Jungle
Express.
Shortly after the completion of the stadium, cost overruns led to Hamilton County filing a lawsuit against Los Angeles-based NBBJ, the
architectural firm that designed and built Paul Brown Stadium. The suit was settled in October, 2004 for $14.25m.
Fans enjoy premium seating options in the 114 private suites and thousands of club seats. Amenities include in-seat food and beverage service
and access to the club lounges for fine dining options.
