USL club FC Cincinnati President & GM Jeff Berding yesterday said that the team is "still weighing its options for facility sites" and "hopes to complete a deal this spring or summer with a goal of having an operational training facility" for '18, according to Patrick Brennan of the CINCINNATI ENQUIRER. Berding: "We've had a number of communities and developers pitch us sites. Every time we get a call, we vet the site." Brennan notes whenever a facility is approved, it will be a "sizable addition" to FC Cincinnati's bid for MLS expansion. Berding said that he "remained confident" in the Univ. of Cincinnati's Nippert Stadium as a "short-term solution." Berding: "We have a great relationship with the university. The economics are good for both of us as a USL franchise. But if we were to have the opportunity to go to the MLS, the feeling from the league and ... I see it with my own eyes -- the economics of the MLS are certainly much better served by having the opportunity to have our own stadium." In the event a stadium is required, Berding said that the club's ownership group is "in the process of raising" up to $250M -- money that would "cover both the MLS' expansion fee and leave $100-plus million for facilities." Meanwhile, he said that the "hardest decisions the club made in its first year were on the TV front." Berding: "We put out an RFP and not a single offer came back. I went to (FC Cincinnati majority owner) Carl Lindner III and said, 'Here's the deal. It's going to cost us about $350,000 to put our games on TV. The best-case scenario is we only lose $150,000 if we sell all of the advertising, but chances are we won't sell all the advertising.' And I said I think we need to do it" (CINCINNATI ENQUIRER, 3/22).
