Getting Closer...

 A few weeks ago, FC Cincinnati’s last piece in its Major League Soccer expansion bid seemingly fell into place when both Cincinnati Public Schools and Cincinnati City Council approved a deal that made the West End the future site of an FCC soccer specific stadium. FCC appeared to have all the boxes checked. Fan support and a strong ownership group were there from the beginning. However, the stadium situation was a total mess. It rotated form Oakley to the West End to Newport to no sites are in play back to the West End. Despite all the drama, a stadium deal was secured and speculation that MLS would vote on FCC’s bid at the next board of governor’s meeting ran rampant. Ultimately no vote took place although MLS did issue a statement that appeared to have singled out FCC as the frontrunner.

Fast forward to April 29 when FCC general manager Jeff Berding and team owner Carl Linder III were spotted in Los Angeles at LAFC’s stadium opener. Taylor Twellman of ESPN said he believed Berding and Linder were there to meet with MLS and that he would be “shocked” if FC Cincinnati was not announced as the next MLS expansion team in 10-14 days. FC Cincinnati then released a statement on May 2 that sounded as if it contradicted Twellman.

The club acknowledged that they met with MLS but also noted that they still had to finalize various legal agreements with CPS, the city of Cincinnati, Hamilton County, the Port Authority, and Nippert Stadium. Apparently once everything is signed and finalized, the bid will be complete and ready for review by MLS. The franchise also stated that they are scheduling a visit to Cincinnati by MLS commissioner Don Garber and other MLS officials. While this visit may be to inspect the stadium site, the statement also noted that Garber and company will meet with club ownership.

While the statement that FCC issued is not great, it is good. Trying to read between the lines, it appears that FCC needs a few signatures on its agreements with the city and CPS among others in order to fully cement them as finished. MLS has been burned by stadium situations in the past so it makes sense that the league would want everything in place before an expansion bid is granted. The statement about Nippert Stadium seems to suggest that FCC could begin MLS play in 2019 should it receive the bid and if Nippert is approved as a temporary venue until the stadium is built. The other statement that popped out at me was that Garber and league officials will meet with club ownership. If the visit were to just inspect the site, I think that would have been mentioned. In fact, the West End site is not mentioned at all in the statement. Could the visit be to iron the out last details of the bid and schedule an MLS announcement? Only time will tell.

Soccer Stadium Sickness

Despite the end of March drawing closer and the fact that both the MLS and USL seasons have started, FC Cincinnati soccer fans are still waiting to know if the franchise will move up to the top tier soccer league in America. Everybody knows by now that the hold up is the stadium site. On March 16, FC Cincinnati reviewed the Cincinnati Public Schools land swap counter offer and conceded the West End. In a nutshell, the franchise said they are not going to build the stadium in the West End and instead focus on sites in Oakley in Newport. The West End debate that raged on for what seemingly felt like an eternity had finally ended. Or so we thought…

As I type this post, apparently CPS voted to approve a potential land swap with FCC should the franchise agree to their terms. Not long after, Hamilton County Commissioner Todd Portune said that FCC general manager Jeff Bearding told him that there is still interest in the West End. I do have my doubts on how factual Portune’s statement is considering how he is the same guy who could not understand why Nippert Stadium and Paul Brown Stadium would not be accepted by MLS. He even reiterated that Nippert and Paul Brown Stadium are viable solutions this past weekend. If it is true and FCC is still pursing the West End, I only have one thing to say. You have got to be joking me.

The residents of the West End have made it very clear that they do not want the stadium. The debates were nonstop. I understand that the site is very suitable for an MLS soccer stadium as it is close to an urban core. However when the residents constantly say they do not want it and CPS makes a counter offer that FCC already said they cannot afford, I see no reasonable explanation as to why the franchise is still pursuing this site. I am sick of it, and I just want the entire stadium situation to end.

FCC needs to focus on either Oakley or Newport. The West End had its chance. Bearding himself has said they will not build the stadium there if is not wanted. The entire city has known for about a month that the West End does not want the stadium. In Oakley, FCC has said that a stadium can be built on old the Cast-Fab site. The preliminary results of the traffic study show that a stadium can be built there but there will definitely need to be adjustments and improvements to the roads in Oakley to accommodate the added traffic. The reception in Oakley however has been lukewarm at best. Newport has the Ovation site which has been described as shovel ready. FCC has a memorandum of understanding with the site owner to build the stadium. The reception in Newport seemingly has the full support of Northern Kentucky as the area is practically begging FCC to build the stadium on Kentucky’s shores of the Ohio River.

I have said it before, and I will say it again. I love FC Cincinnati. I want them to get into MLS. To do that, they need to lock down a stadium site. It has been a straight up fiasco to this point, and the possibility that the West End site may not be dead after all absolutely drives me crazy. I prefer Newport, but I am also fine with Oakley. Please just pick a site, FC Cincinnati. The March 31 deadline is quickly approaching. The MLS expansion clock is ticking. Fans are sick and tired of the stadium arguments and of waiting for an announcement. I am begging you. Pick a site, finalize the MLS bid, and net the biggest win that Cincinnati has had in a long time.