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Bengal Ticketholder Manifesto




First off, let me say I have been a Bengal fan my whole life and this will always be the case. I could never root for another team, and I love watching them play-win or lose. I’ve painted my face for every home game of the last six years. The camaraderie and ritual of gameday tailgating is something that I eagerly look forward to every Fall. My wife and I even have a Bengal van whose sole purpose is to facilitate our gameday proceedings. I am thankful that my favorite team in all of sports plays its games a few scant miles from my house. I have always been an apologist for those who ‘blindly support’ the Bengals despite on-field disappointment. Going to games with friends and rooting on one’s team is a great way to spend a Sunday afternoon-regardless of the result.

That being said, we are NOT planning to renew our season tickets this year. There are a few reasons for this. The first, and most glaring reason, is the team’s poor performance in 2010. I can only speculate where the culpability should lie for this-the specifics are not important. The simple reality is that the 2009 team that showed great promise addressed obvious needs in the offseason, yet regressed on the field of play in 2010. Without getting into particulars-this is not the first time that this has happened. What is so frustrating about the Bengals is their apparent inability to build upon strengths and assume a consistent identity. Instead, they change their identity on a whim and former strengths are allowed to stagnate to the point that they are no longer strengths. This results in flashes of proficiency followed by abject futility. This is not the way successful teams are put together.

I am just a fan, and not a team insider-so I cannot clearly identify the root of this problem. But as a fan-this should not be a concern of mine. As a fan, I should pay my admission to show up and cheer on my team-confident that the powers that be are doing everything within their power to field a legitimate contender. The priority should not be to ‘be competitive’ or to experiment with new tactics that may or may not work. Losing should be anathema-it should not be tolerated. Yet the Bengals ownership seems unalarmed, even after 2 decades without a playoff win. It feels as if we as fans care more about winning than the ownership itself cares about winning. The non-renewal of tickets is the only concrete way that we can express how much we want to win and hate to lose. When the Bengals brass maintains that winning is a priority while operationally sticking with the status quo -it can be likened to a girl who just broke up with you claiming that she still loves you. If she really loved you, she wouldn’t have dumped you. If they really wanted to win, they wouldn’t adhere to archaic methods that have proven ineffective.

While non-renewal is the only way to voice our displeasure with team administration, there are also practical concerns. Simply put-the only reason to own season tickets is to avoid scarcity, and there is no scarcity. My wife and I bought our tickets in Coach Lewis’s first years as coach. During that time, it appeared that the team was on a linear path to greatness. If Lewis could take us from 2-14 to 8-8 in just one year, imagine where we’d be in 4 or 5 years! It was a time for optimism, and we wanted to ensure our ability to witness our team become the next dynasty in person. Season tickets meant we’d avoid paying scalper prices as well as providing us with the same seats for every game.

As we all know now, there was no linear path to greatness. Instead, we have witnessed a cyclical pattern of inconsistency with a few truly mediocre seasons sprinkled in there as well. The result has been a wide availability of tickets. Due to this lack of scarcity, we will still be able to go to whatever games we wish-even without season tickets. We will also not be required to buy tickets to meaningless preseason games-a savings that will offset the forfeiture of our seat licenses. Another positive aspect of non-renewal is prohibiting the organization from making money off of the interest of our ticket deposits for the better part of a year. I’d prefer to retain any interest made off of my own money. We still plan to buy tickets to games-to what degree will be dictated by the performance of the team.

I hope it is clear that I do not feel ‘victimized’ by the team’s poor performance. I am not one of the blowhards who wishes the team would leave town, nor do I condemn those who choose to keep their tickets. I hope against hope that the team truly has a vision and a plan of action that will take this team to the next level. Paul Brown once said that, “Winning makes believers out of all of us.” I can speak for thousands of Bengal fans when I say that we all want to believe. Currently, the ball is in the team’s court. We have shown our commitment year in and year out even when it was not deserved. Now it is time for them to show their commitment to us by exhibiting a commitment to winning. Non-renewal is the only way that we can really voice our concerns. Hopefully our voices will be heard sooner than later.


Who Dey,
Ben Shooner
Sec. 226

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