The Cincinnati Bengals’ indoor practice bubble on the Ohio River has a new name. The Bengals announced a naming rights partnership with CBTS for the team’s indoor practice facility, which will now be called the CBTS Field House, according to the Bengals’ official announcement on October 29.
CBTS is a technology services company headquartered in Cincinnati, founded in 1994 as the technology division of Cincinnati Bell, the Cincinnati Enquirer reported. The company, based in Springdale, offers business solutions in IT, cloud services, cybersecurity and AI, according to the Enquirer, and it also serves as the Bengals’ official technology partner.
The indoor facility opened just west of Paycor Stadium in the fall of 2022, the Enquirer reported. The 80,000-square-foot white bubble houses a 100-yard football field, giving the team a climate-controlled space to practice when it is not on the open-air field next door or out of town. At the time it was built, the Bengals were among the few remaining NFL teams without an indoor facility, according to Enquirer reporting at the time.
For the last few years, the bubble was previously called the IEL Indoor Facility, sponsored by Integrity Express Logistics of Blue Ash, the Enquirer reported. The Bengals did not disclose how much CBTS paid to sponsor the Field House.
The Bengals said the agreement expands a relationship between two organizations rooted in Cincinnati, and that CBTS was named the team’s Official Technology Provider in August, according to the Bengals’ announcement. As part of the partnership, the Bengals will launch the inaugural CBTS Women in Sports Program, a new initiative designed to support women pursuing careers in the sports industry, the team said.
Fans will also see CBTS branding in Paycor Stadium on the West Plaza Suites Level and across television, radio and social media platforms, according to the Bengals. The team said the Field House, visible from both the Brent Spence Bridge and the Clay Wade Bailey Bridge, creates a prominent new landmark expression of the company’s brand in the city it has called home for more than three decades.
Under the Bengals’ 2025 lease agreement with Hamilton County, the team has the exclusive right to choose and sell naming rights for any part of the stadium complex and the adjacent practice fields, the Enquirer reported. In 2022, the Bengals announced Paycor as the naming rights partner for the stadium itself, in a deal Enquirer reporting put at $66.7 million over 16 years.
What happens next is mostly visual: the CBTS name goes onto one of the most visible structures on Cincinnati’s riverfront, and the new Women in Sports Program launches under the partnership — while on the field inside the bubble, the Bengals continue preparing for Sunday’s matchup with the Tennessee Titans.
Photo: EEJCC, CC BY-SA