Bengals defend leaving snow across stadium seats, potentially violating NFL policy
A flurry of wild weather hit the NFL on Sunday, including the Cincinnati Bengals’ Paycor Stadium.
The Athletic’s Paul Dehner photographed the stadium’s lower concourse covered in ice and snow prior to kickoff against the Baltimore Ravens. According to the NFL’s 2022-2023 operations manual, the Bengals may have violated NFL policies by failing to clear snow off Paycor Stadium seats.
“Each home team is responsible for having a snow removal plan in place and ensuring that its stadium has adequate snow removal equipment available. Snow and ice must be removed from the stadium before all games. This applies to the playing field, sidelines, seating bowl, aisles, pedestrian ramps, walkways, parking lots, etc.,” page A48 of the manual reads.
The Bengals defended the stadium’s conditions in a statement.
“Seat aisles were prioritized and are in good shape. Seats are easily wiped off and ushers are equipped to help there,” the organization said.
Hey, thanks for digging out of the snow and single degree temps and coming this NFL game.
Your seat is covered in snow and ice.
Have a blessed day. pic.twitter.com/WU7dZV9wMj
— Paul Dehner Jr. (@pauldehnerjr) December 14, 2025
At kickoff, the temperature at Paycor Stadium was 7 degrees, a stadium record for coldest temperature. It was also the coldest game in Ravens history. The wind chill at kickoff was minus-9 degrees.
Cincinnati is essentially out of the playoff race and trailed the Ravens 14-0 at halftime. The organization has come under fire in the past for cost-cutting measures, such as making former Bengals quarterback Boomer Esiason pay for his flight and hotel and declining to put him in a luxury box after the organization invited him to a Ring of Honor celebration.
Plenty of NFL games faced severe weather challenges Sunday. The wind chill at Chicago’s Soldier Field for the Bears’ game against the Cleveland Browns was minus-2 at kickoff. Heavy rain was expected to hit Seattle later and the Pittsburgh Steelers vs. Miami Dolphins contest was expected to feature severe winds.
