Naming rights at PBS

Now that an appeals court has refused to reinstate the county's lawsuit against the Bengals, it's time for the team to make nice and be a good corporate citizen. Sell the naming rights to PBS and turn the proceeds over to the county.

Todd Portune says if Hamilton County can't find new revenue sources, its stadium fund could be in the red anywhere between $102 million and $288 million over the life of the financing, which runs through 2032.

No blame should go to the team on this one. The county negotiated a terrible lease. The Bengals got what they could. But now, it's the team's turn to be generous. Some of us thought it was cool at the time that the Bengals didnt sell out to some corporate monolith and instead named their playpen after the franchise's founding father. That time has passed. The notion of continuing to pay for what will be a 30-year-old stadium, when so much else in the city demands fixing, makes it obvious what needs to be done.

The Bengals need to let bygones be bygones, sell the naming rights, allow PBS to be used for concerts and other big events etc. Given the foolish/generous lease the club operates under -- if so much as a lightbulb burns out, the county pays to replace it -- it would be the right thing to do.