The location was more than ironic. Carl Lindner III is FC Cincinnati’s majority owner, and the team will play at Nippert Stadium, which is in the final stages of a $85 million renovation that expands seating to 40,000.
“This is really perfect timing for FCC with the renovation of Nippert,” said Lindner, part of the family that previously owned the Cincinnati Reds and contributed heavily to the renovation of the Lindner Family Tennis Center in Mason, site of next week’s Western & Southern Open. “The opportunity to bring professional soccer to the city was too good to pass up.”
FC Cincinnati will start play next March at the same level of a league in which the Dayton Dutch Lions played from 2011 through 2014 before dropping down a level to the USL Premier Development League. FC Cincinnati not only adopted Dayton colors – blue and orange – but Dutch Lions owner Mike Mossel is a minority owner of the new franchise.
“He’s been a friend for many years, and he helped drive this quest,” said FC Cincinnati president and general manager Jeff Berding, who previously was director of sales and public affairs for the Cincinnati Bengals and also served as president of the Kings Hammer, one of the area’s four largest youth soccer clubs.
The USL, previously known as USL Pro, currently is ranked by the United States Soccer Federation as a third-tier league among North American professional soccer leagues, behind top-ranked Major League Soccer – which includes the Columbus Crew – and second-ranked North American Soccer League. The USL is petitioning to reach the NASL level, Mossel said, but promotion depends on the number of teams and the financial stability of ownership.
“You have a passionate, committed and formidable ownership group,” Edwards said. “The league is only as good as the ownership of the clubs.”
“We will be successful because we have the right ownership group and experienced, passionate executives,” added Berding, a former Cincinnati city councilmember whose previous experience running a soccer program was as president of the Kings Hammer.
The league grew to 25 teams in July with the addition of Rio Grande Valley in Texas. Three more teams have expressed interest in joining, including squads in Central Florida and Philadelphia.
FC Cincinnati is projected to play in the Eastern Conference, which includes teams from Louisville, Pittsburgh and St. Louis.
FC Cincinnati used the press conference to introduce key members of its management team, from Berding to coach John Harkes, a 2005 inductee into the National Soccer Hall of Fame who is the first American to play in the English Premier League and served as captain of the D.C United team that won the first two MLS championships in 1996 and 1997.
Harkes introduced his family, including his wife, a Greater Cincinnati native like the wife of University of Cincinnati football coach Tommy Tuberville.
“We’re looking forward to building something here,” said Harkes after a video that showed highlights of his playing career. “We’re going to give you a team you can be proud of.”
While the team has no players, it already has a website — fccincinnati.com — where fans can buy T-shirts, scarfs, banners and flags and put down $50 deposits for season tickets. Fans also can enter the “Be The One Sweepstakes,” which will identify the winner as the team’s No. 1 fan, leading to gifts such as two season tickets, lunch with FC Cincinnati players and other prizes.
FC Cincinnati is the 10th professional soccer team, including four indoor teams, to be launched in the city since 1972 when the Comets opened played in the American Soccer League by winning the ASL championship.
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