The Waiting is the Hardest Part

For FC Cincinnati fans, Tom Petty’s words ring true. FC Cincinnati presented their bid to Major League Soccer in hopes of becoming an expansion team in December. So was their pitch good enough to earn the Queen City an MLS expansion team? Nobody knows. We are still waiting.

MLS had originally planned to announce both expansion teams before the holidays. After Nashville was selected on December 20, MLS changed their stance and said that the next expansion team will be announced some time before the 2018 season starts in March. While that is not necessarily bad news, it isn’t really good news either. What it means is that FC Cincinnati is not eliminated from consideration, but they have not been selected either.

The reason for the league’s announcement change is because apparently Cincinnati, Sacramento, and Detroit still have work to do on their bids. Detroit is considered a long shot after presenting Ford Field as their home stadium. Sacramento is in need of more money and has issued a public plea for an owner or ownership group to join the franchise. For Cincinnati, the stadium situation is believed to be the only thing holding back their bid. A site and some of the funding have been secured, but more funding is needed from the public for the infrastructure surrounding the stadium and rumors continue to swirl that Oakley may not be the final stadium site.

Another rumor that gained a lot of traction on Twitter and Reddit was that MLS was going to issue a press release on January 9 stating that an expansion announcement would be made on either January 10 or 11. As I type this, it is currently 5:46 PM on January 9, and no press release from the league has been issued. On January 8, MLS spokesman Dan Courtemanche released a statement saying, “We do not have an update at this time.” While an announcement can still be made this week, judging by Courtemanche’s statement it seems highly unlikely that MLS Commissioner Don Garber will be making a trip to Cincinnati before week's end.

I have been checking Twitter for MLS expansion news constantly ever since the 2017 FC Cincinnati season ended and it only got worse in the weeks leading up to the bid presentation. To say I am obsessed is an understatement. I check Twitter for updates when I wake up, during my lunch break at work, when I get home from work, before I got to bed, and everywhere in between.

There have been some updates on the United Soccer League side for FC Cincinnati to hold me over until MLS makes an announcement. The team has been signing players at a rapid pace as a major roster overhaul is currently underway to help the team be more competitive for the 2018 USL season. They also sold more than 15,000 season tickets before the end of 2017 and are currently shooting for 20,000 before the start of the season. As for a potential MLS update, I, like the rest of the  FC Cincinnati fan base, will continue to wait and obsessively check the internet for updates. Hopefully the MLS expansion announcement, whenever it happens, will be worth the wait.