The ongoing pandemic has "prompted changes in the design and operation" of FC Cincinnati's new West End stadium, according to Keith Schneider of the N.Y. TIMES. All entrances "will have electronic ticket scanning" and bathrooms "will have touch-free faucets and attendants to wipe down stall doors and sinks." The team also is "prepared to reduce seating and establish social distancing measures if they are needed next year." FC Cincinnati President Jeff Berding said, "It's a balancing act. With a cutting-edge stadium, people expect that venues like this are doing what we can to serve public health needs." Meanwhile, Schneider notes FC Cincinnati's new stadium is "one of seven under construction in the league's building boom." In a "departure from the billions of public dollars spent" in the '90s and early '00s for new stadiums and arenas for MLB and other professional sports leagues, all of the new soccer stadiums are "privately financed, with modest public support for modernizing infrastructure." The pandemic has "disrupted the stadium construction plans" for FC Cincinnati and the six other franchises, but the "extent is unpredictable" (N.Y. TIMES, 7/1).
