Recent stadium ranking places Paul Brown Stadium outside top 20

Paul Brown Stadium will be hosting Bengals’ games for its 20th season this year, which is kinda hard to believe. While it was once viewed as a modern venue compared to the rest of the league, time has diminished its appeal a bit.

In a recent ranking of the league’s top stadiums done by NJ.com’s Darryl Slater, PBS came in at No. 21. There were only 31 ranked since MetLife houses both the Jets and Giants.

That being said, the Bengals were technically in “the middle” which gives them neither a prized stadium nor one at the bottom of the barrel. For a stadium that hasn’t seen major renovations for years, it’s good to see it ranked above the lowest tier. Prior to presenting his finding, Slater nicely expressed what the stadiums were judged on.

“These rankings are based on the quality of the stadium itself, the location, and the atmosphere on game day,” Slater wrote.

With this in mind, it’s interesting that Cincinnati beat out some of the other stadiums that fill up far more frequently. It was at least partially the location, in the heart of downtown Cincinnati, that stuck out to Slater.

“We like the location in downtown Cincinnati. And Bengals fans do turn out. The stadium can really rock for a big game. But it’s not a marquee stadium. It’s just OK.”

All things considered, Slater was kind to the stadium named after the team’s founder.

While the many praised the stadium when it was first resurrected, its building contract has since turned into a media storm with FC Cincinnati’s recent West End deal. Residents oftentimes would point back to the one-sided PBS deal for assurance that Hamilton County must do better.

Thankfully, these rankings didn’t take into consideration how it was built just the magnificence of the location combined with the fans and atmosphere. PBS checks those marks and has been a long-time home for many of the Bengals’ faithful fanbase.