Episode Transcript
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Speaker 1 (00:00):
Thirty here I fifty five KERSD talk station normally doing
a Daniel Davis deep dive. We thought that was gonna
happen today. Hey know, they had some vacation and if
people didn't let us know about that. But we do
have a wonderful substitute today. Haven't talked to Jason Williams
from the Cincinni Inquirer and quite some time. We used
to have regular college conversations back when it did his
politics extra column. But he does a wonderful job as
a sports writer for the Cincinni Inquirer. Jason, welcome back.
(00:23):
I'm laughing about your column, man. I I was just
telling my listeners I ran in a Moeggar yesterday. We
were both at a golf outing. It's a charity golf outing,
and I was talking to mo about the new locker
room at Pey Course Stadium. I said it looks like
a discothech and he started laughing and he said, you
know the thing about it, he is the players didn't
(00:43):
even really seem to care, and they put all this
money into new locker room. And the players that were
interviewed were like, yeah, okay, like whatever, you know, it's
got a place to hang nice stuff and take a shower.
That's all I need. I mean, they could use a
high school locker room and it had the same overall
value as the discotheque that they have now. Anyway, should
the sub should Cincinnati Bengals follow Brown's lead, look at
(01:08):
stadium in suburbs, Let's ditch pay Course Stadium and run away. Jason,
I'm sorry to laugh about it, but we're talking about
a two billion dollar price tag, which also is in
and of itself comical.
Speaker 2 (01:24):
Well very much so, you know. I mean, that's that's
that's the trend though in the NFL right now are
people looking at building new stadiums. Obviously in Cleveland, they're
actually going to build a new stadium. In Nashville, in
their stadium there's only a year older than pay Corpse Stadium.
They're building a new stadium in Buffalo. They in fairness,
they need one. I mean, that's a fifty over a
(01:47):
fifty year old stadium or over fifty years old. But
that's kind of the thing right now. For all these
stadiums that came in in the late nineties early two thousands,
you're looking at uh nearly a billion dollar price tag
for overhauling them or do you look at building a
new stadium. So I literally I just saw some buzz
(02:09):
about it. I heard a little bit about it again,
just people talking about it. I was just kind of like,
I'm gonna I mean, could this even ever happen and
just raise the question about it? Really? Really? Uh, I
mean it would It would be pretty crazy to think
all the money it's been put in the pay Corse
Stadium and but this is just it's not a far
(02:30):
such thing to think about. Again because of what I
just said. But at the end of the day, I
just don't see it happening because you know, really, the
Brown family, uh there, they're gonna be really they're gonna
be asked to put up a lot of money for this,
and they're gonna be asked to put up a lot
of money for the overhaul pay Corpse Stadium. But I
(02:51):
just don't. I think I think that's where the conversation
would start and stop right there is I just don't.
I can't see them willing to put in kind of
money that's going to take to build a new stadium.
Speaker 1 (03:02):
Well, let me ask you this, just being practical as
I am here, why do we feel the need generally
the so called the owners of the teams or or
whatever whot is demanding all of these so called upgrades
that are so damned costly a billion dollars. I understand
(03:22):
taking care of what you own. It's something I really
implore the City of Cincinnati elected officials to do with
regard to our roads before they go building more stuff
and things. But a road works if you keep it maintained.
It doesn't need to be changed or altered. It provides
the core function, which is to serve for my car
to drive down. The pay Corpse stadium works. You can
(03:43):
play football there, you can buy stuff there outrageously priced, yes,
twelve dollars for a beer and seven dollars for a
cheese cony. But it works. What's so wrong with it
that it needs all kinds of huge upgrades maintenance improvements?
Are people no longer going to attend a football game
because we don't have a bigger jumbo tron or a
better locker room? This all seems so superficial and shallow
(04:05):
air frankly pointless.
Speaker 2 (04:08):
Well, at the end of the day, it really is.
I'm oh, yeah, I agree. I think a lot of
this is just like it's just the price. It's it's
what it's what the NFL wants, it's what the demands
across the NFL. So any of these I mean at
the end of the day, like if the lease is
coming up in twenty six, so the Bengals have the
(04:30):
leverage here to say, Okay, well this is what's happened
across the NFL, and all these stadiums that were built
in a similar time, well, their leases are coming up too,
and this is what all their peers are asking for.
And you know, in new stadium stadium upgrades. But a lot,
a lot of this is a lot of this is
window dressing. I guess it's not. It's not hardcore, Like yeah, yeah,
(04:53):
there are I guess. I guess again, Like, you know,
for a thirty year old what is it twenty five
it was build in two thousand, so twenty four year
old building, Like you know, are there some things that
need to be upgraded? Like yeah, but is it anything
massively wrong with the building that it requires like up
toward a billion dollars worth of uh, you know, overhaul
(05:18):
and bell A lot a lot of that stuff would
be bells and whistles types of things like you know,
they just pump up thirty nine million dollars into I think,
you know, just new They put new new seats in
the club level, and then they're redoing, like they expanded
the bridge outside the stadium. I mean a lot of
that stuff. Did you really have to have the bridge expanded?
(05:39):
Did you really really have to? I mean, I mean really,
I mean it's gonna alleviate some pedestrian traffic, you know,
eight days a year, but uh, did you you know
you mean no? Right? I mean right, I mean you know,
what is there like eight eight, nine, ten games in
a couple of concerts, I mean, you know, a dozen
(06:01):
dozen days a year? Sorry for my math there, Yeah, right, Like,
but that's really what this. I mean, how many years
did Riverfront Stadium go? And like did they rip out
all the infrastructure inside and redo all of it over
the years? I don't, I don't remember, but yeah, right,
I'm just saying, like this is this whole wave of Okay,
(06:24):
well you got all your new stadiums twenty twenty five
years ago, and now here comes the wave again of like,
well it's either a new stadium or it's a really
really overhauled stadium and construction costs. That costs even more
to build the original thing. It's just really crazy. It's
it's not just going on here. I think it's a
(06:47):
little more of a touchy issue here because of how
much money the pack taxpayers have paid versus some other
places the taxpayers didn't have to bear it as big
of a burden, and some other NFL cities so hearly
certainly have.
Speaker 1 (07:00):
Jason Williams was one of the great points you made
in the article. The Brown family, apparently this is their
sole source of revenue. They're not multi multi billionaires like
so many the other NFL team owners. Those guys or
ladies as the case may be, or corporations or groups
of individuals can afford to put their own money where
their mouth is and pay for it themselves since they're
the ones that reap the financial benefit of the ball
the game's being played there. Fine, that's private industry and market.
(07:22):
That's the way it's supposed to be. The idea that
a private entity, a sports team is calling on the public,
the taxpayer, to shoulder the burden of all these crazy upgrades,
and I think you and I agree, most of which
are completely unnecessary. Bells and whistles just to keep up
with the other guy. Kind of like a small Genitalia
thing going on here, Jason. But that is what is
(07:42):
bothersome and troubling to me. And I think to most people,
they're still going to go to the football games if
they love the Bengals health. I think they go to
the Cincinnati Gardens if it still existed, if the football
if Bengals are going to play there, that's fan loyalty
to play.
Speaker 2 (07:56):
But if the Bengals are going to win, it's all
about winning. Bryant, Well, how about games winning? No one cares,
No one cares really where they're playing.
Speaker 1 (08:03):
Well, they're paying Joe Burrow a lot of money. Maybe
they should put their resources into paying more, bigger salaries
and recruiting better talent. I don't know, Jason, I don't
disagree with that.
Speaker 2 (08:13):
Hmm.
Speaker 1 (08:14):
Maybe that's a better expenditure of money. Oh my, it's anyway. Yeah,
I just want.
Speaker 2 (08:21):
To add, like I do I you know, really, I've
been around the NFL and I've seen some of these places.
I've been to Buffalo, I've been to Kansas City, and honestly,
like if you could go back twenty five years old,
longer than that in the mid nineties, and if there
would have been more of a vision cast, like the
stadium probably would have been better off, you know, building
(08:42):
in the suburbs somewhere, And of course that would of
there would have been a whole other wave of people,
you know, complaining and oh, we're losing the Bengals to
Warren County. And you know, I know it's there's always
going to be adversity or a fight on any side
of this that you would go. But I think for
some reason, for some reason, the Bengals said we're going
to move to Warren County by the Tennis Center, I'm
(09:05):
just choosing that. I don't know if that's enough plot
of land, but I honestly don't think. I mean, there
would be some Hamilton County politicians or political insider type,
so it'd be like, oh, no, we can't let this happen.
But I think for the most part, certainly Hamilton County
taxpayers and fans, I don't think with care. Then of
course you got Warren County taxpayers might be pretty upset,
(09:27):
but at least I think it would be a zero
it'd be a zero sum game and it wouldn't be
this big. I don't think it would be this enormous,
like oh my gosh, we're losing the Bengals or anything
like that.
Speaker 1 (09:39):
No, I and I agree with you on that. Hell,
if they could building in northern Kentucky, the Greater Cincinnati
Airport is in Kentucky. Parenthetically, it doesn't get people from
going there or laying claim to it. The Cincinnati Bengals
could be in any part of the general tri state
area and they'd still be the Cincinnati Bengals and people
wouldn't feel like they got stabbed in the back because
of a threat to take the ball and run away
to some other with it like some of the other
(10:02):
teams have done. That does not show any respect for
the fan. It is a complete nuking of the goodwill
that they might otherwise have, as is demanding the taxpayers
pay for all these bells and whistles and upgrades that
really aren't necessary to play the game. Jason Williams Cincinnati
dot COM's where you find Jason. He's a wonderful sports ride.
You should follow what he writes on in the enquiry.
(10:22):
Do that at Cincinnati dot Com. Jason, you know you're
always welcome on the program. I enjoy our conversations. I
just appreciate the lighthearted nature of this one. And in
spite of the practical financial reality that's going on here,
take care of my friend. We'll talk again soon. Ho
Brother eight forty one fifty five Krsey the Talk Station
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