How the Bengals became an NFL Franchise

Former Cleveland Browns head coach Paul Brown began planning for the creation of the Bengals franchise in 1965, and Cincinnati's city council approved the construction of Riverfront stadium in 1966.[1] On May 23, 1967, Cincinnati was granted a franchise in the American Football League.[2] The franchise was sold to a Cincinnati-based ownership group led by Brown, who had an ownership share of 10%. The other investors included Austin E. Knowlton who was the majority shareholder with 30%, John Sawyer with 20%, The Cincinnati Enquirer with 11%, and seven others who had a combined ownership share of 29%.[3]