Paul Brown Stadium

I’ve been to a bunch of NFL stadiums. Some organizations get it right and some don’t. Even though I’m a diehard Steelers fan, I liked this stadium. It was an easy walk from my hotel on Vine Street, security didn’t do much of a check and allowed me right in and there was no line to get into the actual stadium. I walked left and BOOM was at my section. I sat in the first row of Section 148 for the 2016 Bengals/​Steelers wildcard game. Of course, I left happy as my team won, but it was disgusting to see the antics of some fans (of both teams) especially when the Bengals fans started throwing full beer cans onto the field that hit the Steelers huddle and one even hit Ben’s foot when he was carted off the field.
Stay classy, Cincy! #sarcasm

So I am a Bengals fan and am super excited to say that my first NFL game was at Paul Brown Stadium. Nestled beautifully along the shores of the mighty Ohio River with the majestic Queen City as its back drop, this stadium is a great place to check out a football game. Getting in and through security was a breeze. The food and drink options are what you expect from a professional sports establishment (pricey and a bit repetitive) but the unvaried options mean you can get food or drink on any level without waiting in too long of a line. The stadium does have some Cincy food like metts and Gold Star Chili. Without a doubt, the best part of the stadium is the main reason why you’re there in the first place: watching the Bengals game! You may have heard that there is no bad seat in Paul Brown Stadium and I really believe that may be true. My husband and I sat in section 316 row 29. We were practically high fiving Jesus and yet we could see the game perfectly. I cannot wait to go to another Bengals game!

I love the Bengals (WHO DEY), but as far as football stadiums go, this is not the best.
I really like that the tickets are somewhat affordable as far as the NFL is concerned… You can get nosebleed tickets (where we normally sit) for as little as ~$ 50, which is a downright steal for the NFL. The food is expensive, but not ridiculous… about the same as Reds games. If you sit in the nosebleeds, most people sit for the majority of the game except for when we’re in the red zone or on a 3^rd down, so that’s nice. I would prefer to sit in the nosebleeds than pay for a seat close to the field.
However, that’s basically where the things I enjoy about this stadium end. Parking is ridiculous… You are going to pay $ 20-​$ 35 for parking, depending on how far you want to walk. The food is not that great, and I’m surprised there aren’t any local restaurants serving food here… Just the usual french fries, pizza, sausages, chicken strips, cotton candy, etc. The beer selection is horrible… Several of the food stands only serve Bud Light, and if you want a local or craft beer there really aren’t that many places to buy them from.
Pro Tip: Make sure to bring cash with you. Several of the food and beer vendors only accept cash.
I love the Bengals, but for the price you’re probably better off watching most of the games at a bar or in the comfort of your own living room.

Pros: Easy access to restrooms with a ton of stalls.
Cons:
— Looks like a concrete prison.
— We sat SUPER close to the field. Around row 9 and honestly, I couldn’t really see much of what was going on and people were standing up the entire game. The other few times I have went we have been in a similar area on the corner of the end zone. I’m beginning to think you would have a better view being in the nosebleeds or the middle of the field. Just IMO.
— Not a ton of local beer options.
— Beer sales and stands are erratic. Some take CC, some don’t. There is no way to differentiate, no signage. If you find a guy that has square I guess you win?
— Taps were hooked up to the wrong beer. They claimed they have to charge by each cup they give away. Come on, you messed up our beer and you can’t just give us a beer in a new cup? Wowzers.
I prefer watching games on TV so I can actually see what is going on, the entire length of the field. I will say it was definitely an experience being in the action.
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* Total side note here (and this does not influence my rating at all) but when people walk in here do all societal rules go out the window? It was like being introduced to an entirely new breed of humans. I could not believe the way some people were behaving themselves IN PUBLIC. One drunk stranger in front of me did turn around an offer me a nacho, so there’s that…

Great place to watch a game. Especially from Row 1 in my section! Bengals v Seahawks.
Very clean environment and well run facility.
It is difficult to exit out of the stadium so take note of that. Lack of bridges over the highway is the issue.

I’m between 4 and 5 stars for Paul Brown Stadium. I’ll try to point how I experience the game day events there and how it works for me, but it might not work as well for others.
Parking and ease of access: I have never been to another NFL stadium, so I can’t really compare it, but I think it is excellent. Certainly if you are staying downtown, it is a very easy walk to the stadium. There is also plenty of parking available, and if you are willing to pay up to $ 40, you can park quite close. If you are a bargain hunter for parking, try parking across the river in Covington and walking across the historic Brent Spence Bridge. It’s a pretty walk and you’ll be able to park for $ 5 or less (free parking can be found if you are willing to walk a bit). Downtown Cincinnati is also the hub for our local bus system, so you can get downtown from most of the city quite easily on the bus, and then it’s about a 5 minute walk from the central bus dropoff point to the stadium.
Stadium, seating and views: This is probably the biggest strength of the stadium. There really are no «bad» seats. Some are much farther than the field than others, but the stadium was built for football only so every seat is angled at the field. The access to the seating areas is through wide tunnels, so getting to your seat is not a problem. Access to the upper bowl is via stairs, ramps or a single escalator on both sides. (Club level patrons and patrons with a visible or documented handicap have access to an elevator, but general patrons do not). Even with NFL security protocols, getting into and out of the stadium is fairly orderly for as many people as are in there. When a game ends and the stadium is still full, you can count on some time spent getting out, but that is to be expected.
Facilities and Concessions.: Bathrooms are plentiful. In a completely packed stadium, if you go at halftime, you will wait in a short line, but it keeps moving. If you go at another time, you will find no lines at all. The concessions are average. I rarely eat any food when I’m at the game, but what I have and what I have seen people get seems like very normal stadium fare, and prices are normal stadium prices, which is to say outrageous. Pro Tip: eat before you get there. The beer selection is fairly pedestrian for a city that loves its craft beer, but they have introduced a couple of «craft» selections this year, notably the Goose Island IPA and the Sweetwater IPA. $ 10 a pop for 16 oz. craft beers isn’t cheap, but it’s not terrible for stadium prices.
Who Dey!

It was a lot of fun but heartbreaking watching the Seahawks play at Paul Brown Stadium this weekend. While the Clink is much better and louder, the Cincy stadium wasn’t bad. The seats were plastic and hard, not that comfortable, but at least we could still see everything from the 300-​level.
The bathrooms are clean and beer was expensive just as expected. They sell snow cones too which was cool for the kids.

Pbs is a excellent stadium to watch a football game in. My family had Bengals season tickets for many years and I have been all areas of the stadium. There is not a bad seat in the house. Lots of good tailgating around pbs.

We sit in the club Sears, a little more money but worth it. The food options and ability to get out of the elements and still be in a comfortable area is huge for us.

The stadium has it’s downfalls (endless ramps, no access to the upper level on the other side without going down and back up, expensive food and drink), but all in all it’s not a bad place to watch a game. There doesn’t seem to be a bad seat in the house. There are never lines for the women’s bathrooms and they are pretty clean. Pro tip, take the escalator to get up to the upper level, but take the stairs down, avoid the ramp unless you’re trying to up your step count for the day. ;)

Paul Brown Stadium is the home of the Cincinnati Bengals football team. The stadium is huge and sits on the bank of the Ohio River that separates Ohio from Kentucky. The other reviews cover mostly everything so here are just some tips and notes.
— Parking can be found close to the stadium for close to $ 30, but try parking about a half mile away or further for $ 5 – 10.
— You can book parking on websites like
and
— Stadium is split up so make sure you are in the right half of the stadium where your section is or you will have to go back down to Level 2 to walk to the other side.
— Food prices here can be a bit pricey but vendors like Gold Star Chili and Papa John’s are actually pretty good.
— There is free wifi throughout the stadium, which I throughly enjoy
— If you want to avoid the sun, shade can be found on the Bengals sidelines throughout the 200 – 300 level sections and closer to the North end zone.
— Get a refillable souvenir cup. It’s only $ 3 more but gets you a larger size, free cup, and one free refill.

Went here for the Cincinnati Music Festival. The music was amazing and the venue was great! My only issue was with the setup of the stage. You only had a good seat if you were in the first 20 rows on the floor. Other than that, you had to rely on the screens.

This is not only a great venue for professional football but perfect for concerts as well. The stadium hosted Dustin Lynch, Thomas Rhett, Randy Houser, Florida Georgia Line, and Luke Bryan.
The set up was perfect, the sound excellent, and the show they all put on was amazing. They even had fireworks popping in the background.
The show was sold out and it was an extremely hot day but well worth the time and energy. I would absolutely go back to this venue for a concert, and of course for football in the fall! Who Dey!

I had a saucer full of shrimp and it was so good I named a stadium after it. Bowl Prawn Stadium. This stadium is not that stadium.
First-​Hand Experience: Info on my personal visit to this stadium — I’ve seen Cinci play here against the Browns among others and I have to say, it’s an excellent stadium. The crowd sometimes goes a bit quiet if things are going badly, but all in all it’s a very top quality 4 star stadium with average prices. You can see the river from most seats and it’s absolutely beautiful. I’ll dfinitely be coming back to watch another Bengals game soon.
Now that I’ve been to every NFL stadium (current and former) and seen all 32 teams play live in the flesh, time to review them on Unilocal!I love stadia! I’ve been to every cool sports arena in the UK & North America, it’s an obsession I have with travel & sport. I’ve roamed America as a musician for years. In that time, I’ve seen sports games at (or toured when empty, or both) almost every major stadium in US/​Canada. Many pictures taken which I’ll upload eventually. On future travels, I’ll new pix, and add more stadiums! Watch this space!
***back to regular review***
The Bengals have always been a hot-​and-​cold team, great colours, shame about the first-​round play-​off losses. Maybe this season will be different (tonight’s game will have a massive bearing on that, but I’m sorry, the Steelers are going to win).
However their team colours are awesome and their stadium is excellent. It is close to downtown, and in a very underrated and picturesque cityscape, it really adds a lot. When you enter the city from any direction, the stadium is right there and it is speaking to you. Literally, it’s a talking stadium. It’s saying «Pig and Elephant DNA Just Won’t Splice.»
You can see the Ohio River from the stadium. What more do you need to know. You can also see my p**** from the stadium.
Also I have to say that Camp Washington Chili is amazing and that Dixie Chili across in Kentucky is even better. Yummmmmmmmmmmmm.
And I’ll say it again. If you were Communists, your team would be called Karl Marx and the Cincinnati Engels.

Yesterday was my fourth time here for a Steelers vs Bengals game. You must have thick skin to attend these being a Steelers fan because Bengals fans are just plain rude.
The stadium itself though is fine. Even nose bleed seats are adequate to seeing everything. Plenty of vendors scattered throughout the stadium and restrooms. I tend to always sit in my seat about a quarter or two and then venture off to the deck where I can stand and be in the crowd. I love the experience of the games.

Today I experienced my first game at Paul Brown Stadium. Overall, it’s a very nice venue with passionate but better mannered fans than I’ve experienced elsewhere in the NFL.
The only drawbacks that come to mind were subpar food and some difficulty hearing the PA announcements.
Though I’m a Steelers fan I had a really enjoyable afternoon here — perfect weather, great seat, and a Ravens loss!

Went to the Panthers vs Bengals game and really enjoyed it. The stadium is huge and at a great location, you will not have trouble finding it. The seats, hallways and bathrooms where clean. Definitely will return and recommend it!

It’s a nice stadium but the bag policy is silly.
Please, PRINT THE STRICT BAG SIZE RESTRICTIONS ON THE TICKETS. What a bad joke to send people away at the gate. Not everyone assumes the bag must be the size of a wallet!

As a building, it’s great. Fairly easy to get around, plenty of bathrooms and food stands, etc. Seats were comfy, views were good.
Staff… well, the food people were friendly. Ticket staff were friendly. The ushers, not so much. With a storm coming, they made everyone go downstairs. Cool– except for yelling at people to leave the shelter of concrete, to stand in the open near metal on the ramps. It just could have been handled differently, maybe with announcements on the PA rather than shrieking staffers.
Overall, it’s a good place for a concert or game. Parking– well, it’s downtown Cinci. Prices can be high and finding a spot close can be impossible, especially with several events nearby. We ended up on the boat ramp east of the baseball stadium– a good price, and not too bad of a walk.

This is your typical NFL stadium. Very clean with a variety of concession choices. The seats are well maintained and the staff very professional. I’ve enjoyed every game I’ve seen here.