The Cincinnati Bengals have more home games than road games on their 2025 regular season schedule. The amount of miles they’ll travel is the fewest in the entire NFL this year.
It’s a fan-friendly slate all things considered, aside from just one primetime game in Paycor Stadium, but sometimes you want to watch your favorite team play somewhere else.
There’s one game on the Bengals’ schedule that stands out above the rest for fans to travel and make a trip around the game itself.
Bengals at Dolphins is the game Cincinnati fans should consider traveling to watch
Cincinnati plays the Miami Dolphins in Week 16 this upcoming season on “Sunday Night Football.” While the kickoff time has a possibility of being flexed to the early afternoon since the game is late in the season, the matchup itself is locked in for Dec. 21. A move to “Thursday Night Football” would simply be nonsensical since the game is already set for primetime viewing.
A Bengals game being played in the NFL stadium closest to the equator on the first day of winter sounds ideal from a weather perspective.
Cincinnatians embarking on December trips to Florida is the furthest thing from a foreign concept. It’s the prime spot for vacationers and retirees of the Buckeye State to enjoy some sun. Flight deals are always prevalent going from CVG to Floridian airports, especially when it starts getting frigid north of the Ohio River.
The game may be scheduled to start after the sun goes down, but it’ll still be a helluva lot warmer in Hard Rock Stadium compared to anywhere in the Queen City over 1,000 miles to the north. The average low temperature on a December day in Miami is 69 degrees. That’s definitive football weather.
Weather box is checked, now let’s talk logistics and itinerary. It’s not an easy drive to make from Cincinnati all the way to Miami Gardens so flying is your best option, and you’d likely want to stay in town for more than just a day or two in that case.
There are far less interesting places than South Florida to stay for multiple days. Miami Beach, Everglades National Park, Miami Heat and Florida Panthers games, and much more are at your disposal. Experiencing the area without the extreme heat of Miami summers is just an added bonus
You can easily make this a mini-vacation for you and others, but with vacation comes time off from work. If only there was a major holiday right around the day this game is to be played. . .a holiday like Christmas!
Christmas Day is just four days after the game. Scheduling PTO now that runs right into the holiday would give you ample time to enjoy the trip and to get back home for the festivities when you already don’t have to work (assuming of course you already get Christmas off).
This matchup had a chance to be played in Madrid, Spain, giving Bengals fans an opportunity to watch their team play in Europe for the first time since 2019.
The NFL opted to keep it in Miami Gardens, and the location, kickoff time, and time of year all make it an ideal week for Cincinnati’s faithful to make a logistical trip out of the experience nonetheless.
