George Foster Bobblehead Unboxing

Ryan of Cincy Fan Zone unboxes a 2017 Cincinnati Reds Hall of Fame and Museum George Foster bobblehead.

2017 Cincinnati Sports Review

As we say goodbye to the year 2017 and hello to 2018, I thought that this week’s post should look back at Cincinnati’s three biggest sports teams and how 2017 went for them. Without a shadow of a doubt, the Cincinnati Reds, the Cincinnati Bengals, and FC Cincinnati dominated the sports scene in the Queen City. While Reds and Bengals coverage should be no surprise, FC Cincinnati’s meteoric rise caught not only the attention of the Greater Cincinnati area but the entire soccer world. So without any further ado, let’s review 2017 for the Reds, the Bengals, and FCC.

The rebuilding process of the Reds continued in 2017 and the results were often forgettable. Once again the team finished at the bottom of the division and failed to reach the post season. Pitching was a big Achilles heel and it often counteracted the offensive fire power that the Reds displayed during the season. In fact, the offense was very good and proved that the team may be a legitimate threat with the bat once the pitching situation is resolved. Guys like Adam Duvall, Scott Schebler, and Eugenio Suarez continued to evolve into solid batters while other players such as Scooter Gennett and Joey Votto had incredible seasons and were the true bright spots of an otherwise dismal 2017 MLB campaign. There were signs of promise for a few of the Reds pitchers, and with the acquisition of Hunter Greene via the draft, the “rebuilding” Reds might be the “contending” Reds sooner rather than later.

When it comes to the Bengals, 2017 was a year that celebrated the past, criticized the present, and asked questions about the future. When it came to celebrating the past, the Bengals had special half time ceremonies that featured various legends during each home game and had many “50” statues spread across the Greater Cincinnati area in honor of the team’s 50^th anniversary. Unfortunately the present Bengals will not be remembered as fondly as the legends of yesteryear. There was the turmoil with the offensive coordinator position to start the year, the controversy of drafting Joe Mixon, the John Ross injury saga, and the overall disappointing play from the team that lasted the entire season. The future of the organization looks murky at best and has a lot of questions that will be answered in 2018. Will Marvin Lewis still be the head coach? Will the team try to bring back Tyler Eifert? Will AJ McCarron be back next season and could he be the starter over Andy Dalton? What will the Bengals do about the offensive line?  Hopefully next year’s Bengals answer these questions and give the fans a memorable 51^st season.

There is absolutely no doubt that FCC was the biggest sports story of the year in Cincinnati. The team began its final push for MLS expansion off the field and its second season of USL play on the field. There were some head coaching troubles to start the year as John Harkes was relieved of his duties and Alan Koch took the helm right before the season started. Koch guided the team to a 6^th place finish in the Eastern Conference, which was good enough to make the playoffs. Despite the team getting bounced in the first round, the season will still go down in history as on of the most successful of all time due to the amazing Open Cup run that played out over the summer. During the tournament, FCC defeated Columbus Crew SC and the Chicago Fire before falling to the New York Red Bulls in extra time in the semifinals. All three of those teams are in MLS and FCC proved it can compete with the highest professional soccer league in the country. Speaking of MLS, FCC continued to strengthen its case to become an MLS team. The club secured an MLS jersey sponsorship deal and was able to finalize a soccer specific stadium plan. They were selected as a finalist for MLS expansion and presented their bid to the league on the sixth of December. As I write this, the decision of which two teams MLS will grant expansion bids to has not been made.

2017 was no doubt an interesting year in Cincinnati sports. The Reds continued rebuilding and showed some signs of promise, the Bengals celebrated the past while the team of the present created questions that will need to be answered in the future, and FC Cincinnati exploded on the soccer scene and became the soccer capitol of America. Hopefully 2018 is a year in which all three teams achieve wins, championships, and success, and prove that Cincinnati is a great sports city.

Last Minute Reds Christmas Gift

The holidays are upon us! I’m sure you have been bombarded with ad after ad after ad detailing the latest and greatest holiday gift ideas. What if you are a procrastinator though? The Cincinnati Reds have you covered.

The Reds are offering a holiday gift pack for as low as $40. This deal offers four ticket credits and a Reds throw blanket. The price of the gift pack will vary depending on where you choose to sit with better seating options obviously costing more.

I received last year’s holiday ticket pack that came with a free Reds nutcracker. I used the ticket vouchers for bobblehead games, and I currently have the nutcracker on display for the Christmas season. It is a very good deal and if you are in need of a gift for a Reds fan, consider the Reds holiday pack.

Go Redlegs!

Clash of Champions 2017 Thoughts

Ryan of Cincy Fan Zone shares his thoughts on WWE Clash of Champions 2017.

Bengal Graphs 2017 Part 3

Ryan of Cincy Fan Zone shows the various autographs he has gotten throughout the 2017 season of the Cincinnati Bengals. 

Evaluating FC Cincinnati's MLS Bid

On December 6, FC Cincinnati made their pitch to Major League Soccer as to why they should be chosen to be awarded an MLS expansion bid. Ever since the team was founded in the summer of 2015, it made no secret that its true goal was to join the ranks of the best American soccer teams in MLS. After a successful first season in 2016 that saw FC Cincinnati knocking on the door of MLS, the franchise seemingly kicked the door off its hinges in 2017. Their incredible Open Cup run during the summer of 2017 garnered unprecedented media coverage for a USL team from news outlets all around the world and many people tagged FCC as a favorite to win an MLS expansion bid. They appear to have all the boxes checked for Don Garber and MLS to award Cincinnati an expansion bid, but when compared to other candidates, there are some categories where it seems FCC falls short. In this post, I will discuss some of the factors that could hurt FCC’s expansion bid that as well as some of the factors that could bolster it.

Let’s start with some of the factors against FCC’s MLS bid. Unlike Sacramento and Nashville, FCC’s stadium situation is still murky. A lengthy debate between the franchise, the city, and the county as to who will pay for the stadium was finally settled on November 29. The team announced they will privately pay for the entire stadium and was seeking about $75 million for the infrastructure. The city agreed to pay $37 million with the county agreeing to pay $15 million for a parking garage. That leaves a gap of about $23 million between what is available and FCC’s initial estimate. Also, Oakley is a few minutes north of downtown Cincinnati. I am not sure if that is considered to be close enough to an “urban core” as MLS would have liked. Personally, I thought that Newport was the best option for a stadium as it would have been just across from Great American Ball Park and the revitalized banks area, which sit on the opposite side of the Ohio River. According to FCC general manager Jeff Berding, Oakley may not even be the final location for the stadium and it may move if FCC is awarded the bid. This uncertain stadium plan definitely plays against FC Cincinnati and could really prove to be detrimental should MLS choose another city. Another factor against the bid is the relatively small media market. Cincinnati is one of the smaller media markets in the country and that could influence the decision of MLS as a smaller media market usually means less eyes are watching.

There are also many reasons that as to why FCC should be promoted to MLS. The passion that the city has for this team is second to none in the USL and will only grow if FCC is promoted to MLS. They obliterated attendance records and were on par with attendance numbers of MLS teams. They even outdrew the Cincinnati Reds of Major League Baseball. Fans packed Nippert Stadium for matches in 2016 and attracted national attention for the record setting numbers that were set during the team’s incredible Open Cup run that saw both Don Garber and Sunil Gulati in attendance for the team’s semifinal match against the New York Red Bulls. The fact that those two attended the match is also a huge boost to FCC’s MLS asperations because they are arguably the two most powerful men in American soccer. Garber is the MLS commissioner and Gulati is the president of the United States Soccer Federation. They both witnessed in person the passion that Cincinnati has for FCC and that unquestionably left an impact on them. Other people associated with MLS have even stated that FC Cincinnati would be a great expansion team such as ESPN commentator Taylor Twellman and New York Red Bulls coach Jesse Marsch. Aside from the passionate fans and the well earned national attention, FC Cincinnati has a dedicated ownership group that is putting up to $350 million dollars to pay the expansion fee and build a soccer specific stadium. That is one of the greatest stadium deals of all time and a clear indicator that team owner Carl Linder III is fully committed to the franchise. FCC has also secured a 10 year MLS jersey sponsorship deal with Mercy Health that is worth about $5 million a year. Another noteworthy factor is the future of Columbus Crew SC. Should the Crew leave Ohio for Texas, there will be no MLS team in the buckeye state. That void could be filled by FC Cincinnati. If the Crew winds up staying in Ohio, then the already fiery “Hell is Real” rivalry between the Crew and FCC could be taken to a new level if both teams are in MLS and play on a regular basis.

In conclusion, there are many factors that hurt and boost FCC’s chances of obtaining an MLS expansion bid. Clearly there are more beneficial aspects of FCC’s expansion bid, and I feel like they the perfect team to join the highest league of professional soccer in the country. The only things that could hold them back are the small market size and the relatively shaky stadium deal. However, market size should not play that big of a role as fans will most likely continue to show up to matches and watch on television. The stadium plan, while not finalized, can be perfected. There is some public funding in place for the infrastructure should the team decide to break ground in Oakley, and Newport is still available should FCC decide to move the stadium closer to downtown Cincinnati. The good does outweigh the bad though as the passionate fan support, dedication displayed by the owner, and the national attention have helped make FCC the biggest Cincinnati sports story of 2017. FC Cincinnati captured lightening in a bottle and Major League Soccer should capitalize on that by granting the franchise and the city of Cincinnati an expansion bid.

MLS to Cincy!

The Final Four

On November 29, Major League Soccer announced its four candidates for MLS expansion. Cincinnati, Detroit, Nashville, and Sacramento were named as the four candidates that will present their bids to MLS on December 6 in hopes of attaining an expansion team. MLS has stated that two teams will be selected to begin play by the 2020 season as teams 25 and 26.

As a diehard FC Cincinnati fan who has been following this journey to MLS ever since the club was established in the summer of 2015, this is very exciting news. FC Cincinnati could be just a few weeks away from being announced as an MLS expansion team. On the other hand, it is pretty scary as the new capital of American soccer could be on the outside looking in if MLS decides not to award Cincinnati an expansion bid.

There are many reasons why FCC should be awarded the bid, but there are also a few reasons why MLS might pass on giving Cincinnati an expansion team. I will go into detail on those reasons in another post. As for now though, it is very exciting that Cincinnati was named as a finalist. Out of the other three finalists, the only city that I would consider a “lock” is Sacramento. I believe they have a stadium deal in place and are second only to FCC in terms of USL attendance. They are also the only team that is considered to be in the west. That is favorable for them as many people, myself included, think MLS will grant expansion bids to one city in the west and one in the east.

In the east, Cincinnati is contending with Detroit and Nashville. A few weeks ago, Detroit’s bid seemed to be dead as they announced plans to use Ford Field, home of the Detroit Lions of the National Football League, as their soccer stadium. MLS insists on having a soccer specific stadium so I was surprised to hear that Detroit was still in running. Nashville is perceived to be a real threat to Cincinnati’s MLS bid as they have a soccer stadium deal cemented. While that is a big requirement by MLS, there are other factors that go against Nashville. Unlike FC Cincinnati, Nashville has not yet taken to the pitch as they are slated to start USL play in 2018. There is no proven fan base for soccer in that city and no point of reference for MLS to gauge how well received soccer will be in Nashville.

In conclusion, FCC is up against Detroit, Sacramento, and Nashville for one of two MLS expansion bids. To me, the only team that is guaranteed to be promoted to MLS is Sacramento in the west with the other three teams battling it out for the eastern slot. I am both excited and nervous and I hope to hear good news from Don Garber when he announces which two cities will be awarded MLS expansion teams by the end of the year.

Shingo Kawabata Bobblehead Unboxing

Ryan of Cincy Fan Zone unboxes a Tokyo Yakult Swallows Shingo Kawabata bobblehead.