Hard Knocks to feature Cincinnati Bengals this year

It's official: HBO's Hard Knocks is going to go all-access with the Cincinnati Bengals during training camp this year. The first reports of this news came out last Friday, and the NFL made the official announcement on Monday.

Here are the details on the upcoming season of the show:

HBO Sports, NFL Films and the Cincinnati Bengals team up for an all-access look at what it takes to make it in the National Football League when HARD KNOCKS: TRAINING CAMP WITH THE CINCINNATI BENGALS debuts in August. The first sports-based reality series – and one of the fastest-turnaround programs on television – kicks off its five-episode eighth season, presented in HD, TUESDAY, AUG. 6 (10:00-11:00 p.m. ET/PT), exclusively on HBO. Other hour-long episodes debut subsequent Tuesdays at the same time, with an encore play every Wednesday at 11:00 p.m., culminating in the Sept. 3 season finale.

This is actually the Bengals' second appearance on Hard Knocks. They were first on the show in 2009, and Marvin Lewis decided it would be a good idea to be on it again. Most teams shy away from giving the rest of the football world an all-access look at their team, but clearly the Bengals don't have an issue with it.

The Detroit Lions will probably keep an eye on this season of Hard Knocks on account of the fact that they host the Bengals in Week 7 of the 2013 season.