CINCINNATI — Snow-covered seats at Paycor Stadium during Sunday's Bengals game against the Baltimore Ravens sparked debate among fans and officials about whether the team did enough to prepare for winter weather conditions.
Hamilton County Commissioner Stephanie Summerow Dumas criticized the Bengals' response to the snow that blanketed the stadium after four to six inches fell across Greater Cincinnati on Saturday.
"I just think we can do better," Dumas said. "We don't know when something like that may happen again ... our residents are our customers, and the county and the Bengals, we're partners, we're teammates and we should be working together."
Photos from the stadium showed practically every seat filled with snow before the game. Some fans complained on social media that seats weren't cleared.
The Bengals directed questions about snow removal to the NFL. League spokesman Brian McCarthy said the team followed proper protocols.
"The league's football operations and security departments were in contact with the club and stadium personnel over the previous 48 hours regarding snow removal," McCarthy said. "The field, sidelines, aisles and walkways were prioritized and appropriately cleared throughout the weekend."
McCarthy said that additional snowfall occurred overnight, resulting in minimal accumulation within the stadium bowl, but said mitigation efforts ensured the stadium was ready for the game.
WATCH: Should the Bengals have cleared snow from Paycor Stadium seats? Fans and Hamilton County leaders weigh in
According to the NFL Operations Manual, teams must remove snow and ice from stadiums before games, including "the playing field, sidelines, seating bowl, aisles, pedestrian ramps, walkways, parking lots, etc."
Based on the NFL's statement, the Bengals appear unlikely to face any fines or penalties. Dumas said her concern isn't about potential NFL fines but ensuring better conditions for fans in the future.
"Are the Bengals okay with what happened? I know, as a commissioner, I'm not okay with it," Dumas said. "I think they could have done more rather than justifying what they did. ... If they could just recognize and take some ownership of their part that they played in it. I would love to see that."
However, longtime Bengals superfan Bengal Jim defended the team's efforts after attending Sunday's game.
"I think it's way overblown, to be honest," Bengal Jim said. "It's December, man. Gotta play football in the elements. I've been to many other cities way worse than that."
Bengal Jim said he witnessed extensive preparation efforts Saturday night.
"They had dozens of people in there the night before doing salt all over the ground, so it was clear," he said. "I wasn't standing on snow. The concourses were clear, the steps were clear."
Other NFL teams have welcomed help from fans willing to clear off aisles and seats in the past. Buffalo Bills and Pittsburgh Steelers fans brought in their own cardboard as well as used staff-provided shovels to dig through snow at Highmark Stadium last year.
We reached out to the Bengals about those claims Monday, but did not hear back.
Former Cincinnati sports broadcaster and Bengals fan George Vogel offered another perspective. He wasn't at Sunday's game, but he said he saw extensive coverage of it.
"I haven't seen too many situations like they had here yesterday, where fans were complaining that much about it," Vogel said. "My guess is, the fans yesterday who came to this game realized they probably weren't going to get the best effort from the organization yesterday, based on how the seating looked."
Vogel said the Bengals' poor performance on the field likely amplified stadium complaints.
"The Bengals have to do better. It wasn't a secret it was going to snow, was it?" Vogel said. "If the Bengals would have won that game ... that would have been a little sidebar. But when you play like they did yesterday? That is an insult to injury."
Bengal Jim said Cincinnati hadn't experienced a snow game of this magnitude in years, which may have contributed to unprepared expectations.
"That's why I like playing open-air stadium in the middle of December. You got to play football in the elements," he said.
Dumas said she hopes the situation serves as a learning experience for future winter weather events.
"We'll learn from this, and hopefully the Bengals will learn from this also," she said.
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