CINCINNATI (ENQUIRER) - With a month before a key deadline for Paycor Stadium lease negotiations, the Cincinnati Bengals released a letter criticizing the Hamilton County prosecutor over her May 15 statements about the process, according to our partners at the [Cincinnati Enquirer.](https://www.cincinnati.com/story/news/2025/05/21/bengals-criticize-hamilton-county-prosecutor-for-negotiation-comments/83772475007/)
Hamilton County Prosecutor Connie Pillich suggested the county terminate its agreement with longtime lawyer Tom Gabelman, who had been handling the negotiations over Paycor Stadium renovations and the development along the riverfront for nearly three decades.
Pillich said she realized the county needed different counsel in the negotiations soon after she took office, after speaking to those who worked with Gabelman. She said the Hamilton County commissioners wanted better communications with their counsel and more clarity on the negotiations and recommended attorneys from Dinsmore and Shohl take over the stadium and riverfront deals.
The three Hamilton County commissioners unanimously approved replacing Gabelman with Dinsmore attorneys at their meeting May 15.
Pillich told reporters she felt the Bengals were not coming to the negotiating table in good faith.
In a letter addressed to Pillich and other officials involved in the negotiations, Emma Compton, a lawyer for the Bengals, noted that Pillich has never been present in meetings with the team over the stadium or the lease agreement.
Compton objected to Pillich’s comments and wrote they are “plainly false.”
“Despite your lack of involvement or any direct knowledge of ongoing lease discussions, you took liberties last week by making public comments regarding the team and questioning the team’s good faith efforts to negotiate a comprehensive agreement with the county,” Compton wrote.
Compton pointed to comments from Hamilton County Administrator Jeff Aluotto in January about the team’s offers to the county indicating a desire to invest in the stadium. She also mentioned comments from Denise Driehaus, president of the board of commissioners, about working together with the team to advocate for money from the state. The Bengals and Hamilton County have requested $350 million in the state budget for stadium renovations.
Compton said the team has invested $45 million in the stadium over the last few years and has a plan to invest $120 million this year and next year.
**Dispute over Hamilton County’s sports consultants**
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The Bengals have previously expressed dissatisfaction with the county hiring David Abrams, a consultant with Inner Circle Sports, to lead negotiations because the consulting company previously worked with the [Cleveland Browns](https://sportsdata.usatoday.com/football/nfl/teams/cleveland-browns/329).
Pillich said on WLW-AM (700) that one member of Inner Circle Sports worked with the Cleveland Browns but has since left the company. She said that Abrams never worked with the Browns.
Compton wrote in the May 21 letter that the county asked the Bengals’ owners to meet with Inner Circle Sports consultants and the ownership refused because of the connection with the Browns. Compton said the consultants could continue to meet with other representatives for the Bengals.
**What’s next?**
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The Bengals and the county approved a memorandum to fund the first phase of stadium improvements at the end of April. The memorandum reiterated both parties desire to reach a long-term lease agreement by the end of June. The Bengals must let the county know if they plan to extend the current lease by June 30.
The Enquirer reached out to the Hamilton County Prosecutor’s Office for a response and did not receive one prior to publication. Pillich previously said she’s interested in what the Bengals organization has to say in negotiations, not in media coverage of them.
“The county remains fully committed to reaching an agreement that benefits the team and taxpayers,” Pillich said in a statement May 16.
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