Soccer It To Me, Cincy, Con't

With all the political craziness going on in the world, it looks like in local Cincy/NKY news that Major League Soccer will be coming to Cincinnati after all, despite the West End stadium deal sill being very much up in the air. Pat Brennan at the Enquirer:

Major League Soccer is coming to Cincinnati next week, and league officials are likely bringing with them an invitation for Futbol Club Cincinnati to join their ranks. 

Sources confirmed to The Enquirer that a major club announcement is coming Tuesday at Fountain Square and MLS commissioner Don Garber will be in attendance.

Team and league officials declined to comment further on the nature of the announcement. 

Perhaps there's nothing for officials to add, though, as Garber's presence for an announcement in Cincinnati points an invitation for FC Cincinnati to join MLS. 

"Major soccer announcement" was the phrasing used as a not-so-subtle heads up prior to the December expansion announcement in Nashville.

The announcement is expected Tuesday afternoon and the club is expected to start playing next season using the U of Cincinnati's Nippert Stadium until their own venue can be built.  I guess things with keeping the Columbus Crew just an hour and change up the interstate must be going far worse than previously thought for MLS to cave like this to Cincy without a specific venue deal in place.

The stadium deal, as I said, is still in the proposal stage.

FC Cincinnati last week signed a benefits agreement with a group representing West End residents, paving the way for a soccer stadium in the neighborhood. But exactly what's in it? 

Right now, there is no single document spelling out the details of the community benefits agreement (CBA). 

A final document is being worked on between the lawyers of all the parties, but officials said it would not be complete for at least another week. So The Enquirer compared both documents to get a full list of promises and arrangements, to see what additional benefits the neighborhood got after nine hours of negotiations. 

The big question: How much will FC Cincinnati spend in West End? A total of $6,170,000 over the 30-year deal. Here's how it breaks down:

• $100,000 annually for a West End Youth Soccer Program
• $100,000 annually for West End community building initiatives
• $100,000 one-time payment for a housing study
• $50,000 one-time payment for a communication consultant related to affordable housing
• $20,000 one-time payment support entrepreneurship training for West End residents

I guess the CBA agreement was enough for the MLS. A 30-year deal makes me laugh, because neither the team nor MLS will be around in 30 years the way things are going in this country right now (hell, *I* might not be around in 30 years.)

My prediction:  neither the Columbus Crew nor an FC Cincinnati stadium groundbreaking will be in Ohio by Election Day 2020, but a lot of pissed off voters will be.

We'll see.