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Bengals Face Potential NFL Discipline for Snowy Seats

Published 14 December 2025

Cincinnati Bengals officials face potential league discipline after leaving snow on spectator seats at Paycor Stadium ahead of their NFL Week 15 home game against the Baltimore Ravens on December 14. The oversight, highlighted by pregame images and videos showing accumulation across the seating bowl, appears to contravene the league's mandatory snow removal requirements.

The incident unfolded following a heavy snowstorm that blanketed Cincinnati and much of Ohio with several inches of accumulation over the preceding Saturday. Temperatures plummeted, reaching 3 degrees Fahrenheit with a wind chill of minus 13 degrees shortly before kickoff, marking the fifth-coldest game in the stadium's history. At game time, conditions hovered around 9 degrees with a real feel of 1 degree, creating harsh viewing circumstances for the roughly 65,000 fans in attendance.

According to the NFL's playing field specifications, each home team must maintain a snow removal plan and ensure equipment is available to clear snow and ice from all areas of the stadium prior to games. This includes the playing field, sidelines, seating bowl, aisles, pedestrian ramps, walkways, and parking lots. The policy...

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