 Brown ultimately acquiesced to joining the AFL when after learning that the team was guaranteed to become an NFL franchise after the merger was completed in 1970, provided a larger stadium was completed by then.Ultimately, the stadium issue was settled in no small part because the Cincinnati Reds of Major League Baseball were also in need of a facility to replace the antiquated Crosley Field, which they had used since 1912.Parking nightmares had plagued the city as far back as the 1950s, the little park lacked modern amenities, and New York City, which after 1957 had lost both their National League teams, the Dodgers and the Giants to Los Angeles and San Francisco, respectively, was actively courting Powel Crosley.