MLS chooses Cincinnati to join league next season

CINCINNATI Major League Soccer added Cincinnati in its latest round of expansion Tuesday, rewarding a city that has set attendance records during three seasons of United Soccer League play and has a stadium deal in place.

The announcement Tuesday brings MLS to 26 teams, two shy of its goal. It began as a 10-team league in 1996.

Cincinnati will join next year, continuing to play at the University of Cincinnati’s football stadium while a 21,000-seat soccer stadium is built in the city’s low-income West End neighbourhood. The stadium is expected to be ready for the 2021 season.

MLS added the Los Angeles Football Club this season, bringing the league to 23 teams. Miami and Nashville also are getting expansion franchises. The league held off awarding the 26th spot for six months because of ownership and stadium issues with the other three candidates: Sacramento, Detroit and Cincinnati.

Cincinnati jumped ahead of the other two when city council approved US$34.8 million for infrastructure as part of a stadium deal last month, the final piece of Cincinnati’s proposal.

FC Cincinnati had its inaugural season in the UFL 2016 and far surpassed attendance expectations. Last year, the team averaged more than 21,000 fans at Nippert Stadium, which seats 40,000, and gained attention by going 5-1 in the U.S. Open Cup, beating two MLS teams.

FC Cincinnati drew 26,495 fans for a game against Louisville City FC Saturday and is averaging more than 23,000 fans this season. The team is coached by Alan Koch, a Canadian citizen who was born in South Africa. He previously coached the since relocated Whitecaps WFC2 team and the men’s team at Simon Fraser University.