For Bengals, winning = waitlist for tickets

Randy Tucker and Melanie Laughman, Cincinnati Enquirer
·2 min read
Fans find their seats and call out to players during warmups before the NFL divisional playoff football game between the Cincinnati Bengals and the Buffalo Bills on Sunday at Highmark Stadium in Orchard Park, N.Y.
Fans find their seats and call out to players during warmups before the NFL divisional playoff football game between the Cincinnati Bengals and the Buffalo Bills on Sunday at Highmark Stadium in Orchard Park, N.Y.

A $150 nonrefundable deposit will buy you a spot on the Bengals' season ticket waitlist, but there's no guarantee you'll get tickets for next season.

The Bengals started the waitlist in July last year after the team announced that 2022 season tickets had been sold out in the wake of the Bengals first trip to the Super Bowl in 33 years.

Bengals' officials declined to say whether season tickets for the 2023 season were sold out and unavailable to fans still on the waitlist.

"We are not able to provide any details on the Season Ticket Member waitlist,'' Emily Parker, a Bengals' spokeswoman, said in an email to The Enquirer.

If you waited until this year to get on the waitlist, you may have to wait until at least 2024 to get tickets for one of the hottest teams in the NFL heading to its second consecutive AFC championship game.

"It is beneficial to get on it (waitlist) sooner rather than later,'' Evan Dickes, an account executive in the Bengals' season ticket sales office told The Enquirer in an email. "If you aren’t able to select seats this year or don’t like the options during your turn you would stay on the waitlist and look at options in 2024.''

Dickes said in his email that he wasn't sure how many people were on the waitlist as of Monday, but "I know it grows every day.''

If you want to join the waitlist, here's how it works:

  • There's a one-time $150 deposit to hold a spot on the waitlist, which can be applied to the cost of the season ticket. The deposits are nonrefundable and not transferable.

  • Fans on the wait list get priority for playoff tickets.

  • The deposits are time-stamped to determine your place in line.

  • Fans can place up to four deposits for four season ticket seats per account.

  • Joining the waitlist does not guarantee tickets for the upcoming season.

  • The Bengals will contact waitlist fans in order that the deposits were made after the season ticket holder renewal process.

  • If people are unable to pay for their tickets when they are offered, they can defer twice before moving to the end of the line.

Fans can contact the Bengals ticket office by email: Bengals.Tickets@bengals.nfl.net, by phone at (513) 621-8383 from 8:30 a.m. to 5:30 p.m. Monday through Friday.

This article originally appeared on Cincinnati Enquirer: Bengals' season tickets may be the hardest to come by in Cincinnati