Cincinnati Bengals

From Paul Brown's vision to AFC contenders.

The Cincinnati Bengals are a professional American football team based in Cincinnati. The Bengals compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the American Football Conference (AFC) North division. The team plays its home games at Paycor Stadium in downtown Cincinnati.

Quick Facts

Rivalry name: Battle of Ohio
Shared founder: Paul Brown

Lore & Background

Former Cleveland Browns head coach Paul Brown began planning for the creation of the Bengals franchise in 1965, and Cincinnati's city council approved the construction of Riverfront Stadium in 1966. Finally, in 1967, the Bengals were founded when a group headed by Brown received franchise approval by the American Football League (AFL) on May 23, 1967, and they began play in the 1968 season. Brown was the Bengals' head coach from their inception to an unspecified date. After being dismissed as the Browns' head coach by Art Modell in an unspecified year, Brown had shown interest in establishing another NFL franchise in Ohio and looked at both Cincinnati and Columbus. He ultimately chose Cincinnati when a deal between the city, Hamilton County, and Major League Baseball's Cincinnati Reds was struck that resulted in an agreement to build a multipurpose stadium. Due to the impending merger of the AFL and the NFL, Brown agreed to join the AFL as its 10th and final franchise. The Bengals, like the other former AFL teams, were assigned to the AFC following the merger. After Paul Brown's death in 1991, controlling interest in the team was inherited by his son, Mike Brown. In 2011, Brown purchased shares of the team owned by the estate of co-founder Austin Knowlton and is now the majority owner. The Bengals won the AFC championship in unspecified years. After each of the 1981 and 1988 conference championships, they lost to the San Francisco 49ers in Super Bowls XVI and XXIII. The team struggled in the 1990s and early 2000s. The turning point was during the 2021 season, when they won their first playoff game in 31 years and advanced to the first of two consecutive AFC Championship games. In 2021, they defeated the Kansas City Chiefs 27–24 in overtime and advanced to Super Bowl LVI, where they lost to the Los Angeles Rams 23–20. They advanced to the AFC Championship game again in 2022 but lost to the eventual Super Bowl champion Chiefs 23–20. The team does not have an official general manager; Duke Tobin is the Bengals' 'de facto general manager.' In a 2011 survey, Brown was rated as among the worst team owners. As of August 2022, the Bengals were ranked last in value among NFL teams at $3 billion.

Reader's Guide

The Bengals were founded in 1967 by Paul Brown. They played their first two seasons at Nippert Stadium before moving to Riverfront Stadium in 1970. The team's colors include a shade of orange chosen by Paul Brown, possibly as an insult to Art Modell or as a homage to the Massillon Tigers, with black as the secondary color. The logo is the word 'BENGALS' in black lettering. The team's home games are now at Paycor Stadium.