FC Cincinnati continues Major League Soccer expansion push

Steve Brenner 16:59 21/08/2017
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  • FC Cincinnati are backed by a loyal set of supporters .

    The Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup is a kind of an afterthought in the soccer calendar here. MLS teams send out second strings. The nation’s fans aren’t sprinting to a TV to watch the draw for the next round. Yet, for those teams who aren’t able to get a seat at the top table, it’s a brilliant chance to stake a claim.

    And even if FC Cincinnati’s brave journey to the semi-finals ended on Tuesday with defeat to the New York Red Bulls, try telling any of the 30,000-plus jam-packed into Nippert Stadium that a cup competition is a waste of time.

    I don’t want to bore everyone by droning on about the whole ‘soccer has become more popular in the US’ thing, but what’s transpiring in Ohio really is something else.

    This is a place with no real pro soccer history, even if the sport has been popular at the high school level for years. It’s a city which hasn’t been too successful in recent sporting times. The Bengals don’t look like winning the Super Bowl anytime soon. The Reds probably won’t lift the World Series either.

    Cincy FC play at a stadium which is owned by the local university. They’ve only been going for two years and currently reside in the USL – effectively the second tier which has no direct route into the big time.

    The crowds and the interest generated, however, are off the scale. “There’s a real family feel to the whole experience,” said fan Steve Hall.

    “It’s a good all-round experience which feels different to other sports.”

    Six fan groups meet regularly to discuss chants and ‘tifo’ style flags to wave. Their first season saw attendance records smashed consistently. What’s followed has just reinforced and strengthened interest to quite incredible levels.

    Billionaire local businessman and owner Carl Lindner III, who used to be in the Bengals front office, is leading from the front and loving every minute.

    Beating Chicago on penalties to reach the quarter-finals – they dispatched Columbus Crew in the previous round – sparked the kind of wild celebratory scenes most top-flight clubs can only dream of.

    In the next round against FC Miami, fans travelled in great numbers for a match that was called off thanks to the unpredictable South Florida weather. That, however, is quite something and when it comes to piquing the interest of MLS commissioner Don Garber, is absolutely crucial.

    “Incredible scenes” tweeted wide-eyed Garber as he surveyed the crowd of 33,250. Interest in the game isn’t the issue. It’s seeing stands packed and TV figures impressing the money men.

    There are two big ticks for FC Cincy on that score – the club’s website crashed in the build-up to the Red Bulls match because of the demand for tickets, while that extra-time defeat was the most watched show in the area.

    Of course, the New York sporting market is a different beast. There’s far more for fans to sink their teeth into. Yet FC Cincy are the new kids on the block and have already exceeded the wildest of expectations.

    “What an incredible environment,” added Red Bulls boss Jesse Marsch after the end of 120 emotionally draining minutes.

    “I think Cincinnati would be a feather in the cap of MLS.”

    So what now? Well, that’s not so straightforward. With expansion costs now beginning at $150 million, there are a host of new cities wanting a piece of the action. Sacramento and Nashville are strongly in the mix.

    There are, however, problems to overcome. MLS require any new owners to have a soccer specific stadium with real turf, not the plastic surface currently in use.

    But Garber, speaking ahead of the MLS All-Star game in Chicago earlier this month, sounded confident of making dreams a reality.

    “Two games in the U.S. Open Cup and more than 30,000 (fans) is just something they should be very proud of,” he said. “The owners are doing an amazing job.” Indeed they are. But there’s plenty more work to do.

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