Paycor Stadium Lease Up in 2026: Potential Destinations for the Bengals to go

Paycor Stadium’s lease is up in 2026 and the Cincinnati Bengals have until June 30th, 2025 to make a decision. Negotiations between the Bengals and the local officials are not going well. The Bengals ownership has announced that a relocation is not out of the question. Although unlikely, if the Bengals were to move, here’s 5 potential destinations that they can relocate to. 

#1: Portland

Moving out to the West Coast would be a huge move and cause a realigning of divisions. A move this massive could see the Colts move to the AFC North, the Chiefs move to the AFC South, and the new Bengals in the AFC West to justify the geographical distances. This move is the least likely of any of the 5, but would make for a very interesting change with the realigned divisions. Portland also could have a cross-conference rivalry against the Seattle Seahawks who are just a couple hours away. 

#2: San Antonio

The 2nd largest city in the United States without an NFL team is San Antonio with a metropolitan population of over 1.4 million. San Antonio has a loyal NBA fanbase in the San Antonio Spurs and proven they can house a professional sports team. They also are home to a UFL team in the San Antonio Brahmas. Although, they aren’t very good and their attendance is middle of the pack in the league. The stadium they play in though has a very high capacity and is the home of the Alamo Bowl. San Antonio would be a prime place for a NFL team, despite being another option in the state of Texas.

#3: Columbus

The largest city in the state of Ohio and the 15th largest in the United States would have the Bengals not needing to move far. A straight shot up I-71, Columbus is a central location in the state and where many Bengals fans already reside. This move would also strengthen the rivalry between Cleveland & Pittsburgh with being closer in proximity to both teams. This would make for more fans going to the rivalry games and more hatred for one another, in one of the most interesting triangles of teams in sports. 

#4: Birmingham

The smallest city on this list but certainly not one that’s out of the water is Birmingham. There’s a lot of history in Alabama when it comes to football with two powerhouse collegiate programs in the University of Alabama and Auburn University. When the UFL was announced, Birmingham got a football team and has been drawing over 10,000 fans per game. This is one of the better attendance marks in the league. This is still a far cry off from what NFL teams attract, but it’s enough to ask what if a team came there. We know some Burrow & Chase played at LSU in the SEC, so the games would attract Bama and Auburn fans to root for / against their SEC rivals. 

#5: St. Louis

St. Louis had an NFL team once before the Rams moved to Los Angeles in x. This was a huge blow to a city with a beloved fanbase. Thankfully for the city, it wasn’t too long they had to wait before another football franchise entered the market with the St. Louis Battlehawks in the UFL. The Battlehawks continuously dominate the attendance numbers posting almost 40,000 fans per game on average. This would put it less than 20,000 fans short of the lowest NFL team in Chicago. This attendance alone and love of the game just shows how passionate this city is for football and why St. Louis should market a NFL team again. There’s no doubt that the fans would flock to the stadium to watch a team play.