Immense rainfall, Ohio River flooding directly impacts the Bengals' stadium and their indoor practice facility
The Ohio River is right next to the Cincinnati Bengals' base of operations. Both Paycor Stadium and the team's indoor practice facility rests on the banks of the 10th-longest river in the United States. So when the river starts to overflow from rain, both structures are in the flood zone. This became the case after […]
The Ohio River is right next to the Cincinnati Bengals' base of operations. Both Paycor Stadium and the team's indoor practice facility rests on the banks of the 10th-longest river in the United States.
So when the river starts to overflow from rain, both structures are in the flood zone. This became the case after immense rainfall overtook the greater Cincinnati area over the past week.
Pictures courtesy of WCPO 9 show the Bengals' practice facility surrounded by water from the river right next to it.
The facility is still relatively new, having opened in 2023, and is used in different parts of both the offseason and regular season. Walkthroughs, rookie minicamps, and practices during inclement weather are typically held inside what most label it as a practice bubble since it is not a high-end concrete structure.
Thankfully, the team does not need it at this time. Offseason workouts don't begin for another two weeks, and rookie minicamp is still more than a month out. There may be water inside now, but everything will be cleared out long before it's used by the team.
As for the main stadium, the inside is protected from flooding. The outside areas such as the player parking lot, is not.
Players do have the option to train and rehab at the facilities inside the stadium, but are not required to show up for several weeks. Everything will be voluntary up until June when mandatory minicamp arrives. Cincinnati typically sees very close to 100% attendance for its offseason workout schedule, but again, there weren't a plethora of players' cars taking on river water Sunday afternoon.
The Bengals very rarely have to face this reality, but as seen above, it can happen. Some parts of the country have to deal with hurricanes or earthquakes. This is the risk the team takes for being located right next to the river.
Bengals once again taking time to meet with one of their likely targets in the first round of the 2025 NFL Draft
An important pre-draft visit for Cincinnati this week.
