Berding has to build a team, stadium and practice facility in preparation for the club's move to MLSGETTY IMAGES
FC Cincinnati President & GM Jeff Berding is "in the midst of transforming" the USL club from a $10M enterprise to a $450M one, but that shift has been "difficult at times, because what worked for a smaller club wasn't necessarily what is needed to be a winning MLS team," according to Coolidge & Brennan of the CINCINNATI ENQUIRER. Berding "still has to build a team," a stadium and a training facility, and hire as many as 30 employees to "help make it all come together." Berding has had to "restructure and revamp his front office staff." The club had approximately 30 employees at the start of this calendar year and "projects the workforce to double in size" by early '19. The proposed stadium site "has city approval, but it's still in the design process -- with an eye on making it bigger than the 21,000 seats originally planned." FC Cincinnati is "averaging more than 25,000 tickets sold per game" at the Univ. of Cincinnati's Nippert Stadium. While MLS tickets being more expensive "might mean drawing fewer fans, projections show the team could draw well above the 21,000 seats" proposed for the new stadium. Berding has also had to "think about what Nippert Stadium will look like next year" when MLS play begins. Fans of FC Cincinnati "love Nippert Stadium, but the facility needs to be brought up to MLS standards in several key areas." Berding: "You set this goal and you start swimming for it and all of the sudden you find yourself in the middle of the ocean. You can either keep swimming or drown, so you better just keep swimming" (CINCINNATI.com, 8/30).
