On just their second home night out in USL, the recently minted FC Cincinnati already set a league record. Though they found themselves just edged out 2-3 by visitors Louisville City FC, they managed a major victory: selling 20,497 tickets to Nippert Stadium, the biggest USL crowd ever to date.
There’s no need to wonder if the soccer scene in Tennessee, Kentucky, and southern Ohio has already “arrived”—here’s proof positive that it's already showed up.
This bodes well for Cincinnati president Jeff Berding’s MLS ambitions. Earlier this year, he told Soapboxmedia.com he hoped to model his team on Orlando City’s USL-to-MLS success.
“The MLS commissioner has stated that the MLS wants to continue to expand,” Berding said this past February, “and we believe Cincinnati is a great market and that we have every opportunity to be successful.”
The squad, itself, already boasts plenty of MLS experience. Former MLSers like Corben Bone (Chicago Fire), Tyler Polak (New England Revolution), Eric Stevenson (New York Red Bulls), Kenney Walker (LA Galaxy), and Andrew Wiedeman (FC Dallas) all figure on the Cincinnati roster.
