If Cleveland gets money from Ohio for Browns stadium, Cincinnati wants theirs, too

Ohio has two NFL teams (if you didn't know). They both are trying to get public money for new or renovated stadiums.

Via Sean McDonnell of the , Harrison County Commissioner Alicia Reese has made it clear that, if Cleveland gets money from the state for a renovated or new Browns stadium, the Bengals want theirs, too.

"You can't give everything to Cleveland and leave us with the scraps ," Reese said during a recent public meeting of the Harrison County Commission.

The statement comes on the heels of the Harrison County Commission releasing plans for a $1.25 billion renovation of Paycor Stadium, where the Bengals play. The Bengals, for their part, have yet to embrace the proposal.

"The team will review the materials in due course and believes an approach of responsible investing in this great public asset can serve the community for NFL games, major concerts and other events," the team said in a statement.

None of it matters unless and until the Bengals and Hamilton County work out a new lease; the current deal expires in 2026. The , via , recently reported that the two sides "may be far apart."

The efforts of the Browns and the Bengals to shake maximum cash from the taxpayer money tree is the latest dance in the broader game of stadium politics. Despite the fact that NFL teams are worth more and more (and more) money, they want free money for the places where they play.

Voters would, in most markets, tell the teams to get bent if the measure was on the ballot. Politicians fearful of being the ones responsible for losing a popular team seem to be inclined to work the backchannels necessary to find the free money.

When it comes to the state of Ohio, they need to be thinking about two teams, not one.