Boosted by a ravenous fan base, FC Cincinnati quickly became a local sensation that took on national proportions.

Led by CEO Carl Lindner III, president and general manager Jeff Berding and thousands of crazy Orange-and-Blue clad fans, FCC rose from United Soccer League power to Major League Soccer expansion club in a mere three years.

MLS soccer commissioner Don Garber attended the FCC home opener against Portland and spoke to the press about a number of topics, including how impressed he was FCC was able to pull it off in such a short time.

“The best model is to wait as long as you can,” Garber said but added FCC’s success has been eye-opening. “These guys did a great job. We would not have had them come into the league on that short runway if we didn’t think they were capable of pulling it off. They had a USL team operating at a very high level. They had an organization operating at a higher level than the league there were in. They were spending, investing, building their plan for their stadium, so they pulled it off. But it is alway better to have an Atlanta or LA that when it hits it just explodes.” 

The rise was the fastest for an MLS expansion club since 2009 and third-fastest all-time between the announcement and when the team took the pitch for its first game. 

While Garber said the FCC model is unique, the club has made it work in impressive fashion and made him believe it can work anywhere in the U.S.

“We just had a product strategy committee meeting a number of weeks ago and they were talking about that — more teams coming online,” Garber said. “I remind them it is an international market. The core of many teams — and Atlanta is probably the best example of that — have players coming from outside the league. If you are smart and hire a good technical general manager and hire a good coach and understand the business then you can be successful.”

Garber said he thinks MLS is unique in expansion, not being held to the same restrictions as the NFL or MLB.

“I think that is what makes our league so exciting,” Garber said. “It is a global game. We are not in a closed market where if you are expanding in the traditional leagues here there are only a certain number of American football players available so if you add more teams you are diluting your existing player pool, and that is not the case in soccer. “

FCC continues to be proactive in its development, constructing a $30 million training facility, the Mercy Health Training Center, in Milford, Ohio, in addition to the league-approved $250 million West End Stadium targeted to open in March 2021. 

Garber called the home opener, “as good as any opening we had” and while he declared apprehension in doing it again, he thoroughly enjoyed taking part in FCC’s supporter march.

“It was fun. I have only attended one other supporters’ march and that was in Seattle and I thought I would never do that again,” Garber said laughing. “I say that with a smile because there is a lot of energy in those marches and it is not about the guys in the suits. It really is about them showing their pride in their club and in their city and in their colors. This was good to be a part of it.”

While Cincinnati was originally competing against multiple cities for a franchise, Garber said FCC has changed his thinking about only looking at already proven soccer markets as potential new clubs.

“I think when we started this process we were thinking about markets that had soccer history as one of the key drivers as to whether the team would be successful,” Garber said.  “I am convinced now soccer can be successful in any market in this country at the MLS soccer level. I am 100 percent sure there isn’t a market that MLS wouldn’t succeed in if we had the right owners and the right stadium plan.”

As much as the operational part of FCC was conducting work at a high level, he admitted the club itself and the fans helped sway his opinion of the Orange-and-Blue.

“It was a big part of it,” Garber said of FCC’s initial impression on him. “I really didn’t understand what was happening with FC Cincinnati until I came to the U.S. Open Cup match against the Red Bulls. That was as big a crowd as what existed in the country during that year. Knowledgeable fans that loved their club and players who were committed to the city and community. It was a big part of it.”