Orange And Blue And Black And Gold: Why adding FC Cincinnati is a win for Ohio soccer and maybe for the Crew

Major League Soccer might miss out on something special between the Columbus Crew SC and FC Cincinnati. But it doesn’t have to.

The MLS announced yesterday (5/29/18) that Cincinnati would be joining Major League Soccer as its 26th team.

Welcome to the party little brother! (nothing like joking among family amirite?)

While it hasn’t been announced which conference they would be a part of, the Eastern conference currently has one less team than the Western conference and its location makes it an almost certainty it would end up rounding out the last team in the Eastern Conference. This would provide balance to the league table next year and would allow the other two expansion teams (Miami and Nashville) to be inserted into the East and West respectively when they play in 2020. Below is what the league would look like given the current standings with Cincinnati added.

While the Cincy soccer hopefuls have gotten this wish and Ohio soccer fans should be ecstatic, there are some larger questions that surround this announcement.

What does FC Cincinnati mean for soccer in Ohio?

The development of soccer in Ohio has grown exponentially since the early 90’s when the MLS was started and the US hosted the ’94 World Cup and the U.S. Women’s national team won gold in ’91 and again in ’99. Ohio still remains a Football state, but soccer has continued to surge in the 2000’s behind successful college teams such as the University of Akron and Ohio State and received a major jolt in 2008 when the Columbus Crew SC gave Ohio it’s first professional sports championship since the Reds won the World Series in 1990.

Today, Ohio soccer has taken another step forward.

Adding another MLS team in Ohio both demonstrates the hunger for soccer in Ohio and the passionate sports fans that populate the 17th state in our great union. It provides Reds fans with a chance to cure their rebuilding blues with an exciting, fast-paced product until they can get back on track to being competitive. It allows for economic development in a city that tends to be divided up economically and gives the people another banner to rally behind with their feet and their dollars.

The Columbus Crew can attest, adding an MLS franchise to the city will inculcate the community with future soccer stars, who opt for using their feet rather than their hands. This is the same community dynamic that gave the US and the Crew a homegrown star in Will Trapp and has seen the popularity of the sport in the region grow.

Briefly stated, this is a good thing for Ohio and an even better one for Ohio soccer.

Where does this leave the Columbus in the midst of its custody battle for its team?

At first glance, awarding a bid to a team less than two hours away from another team may appear to be a detriment to the Black and Gold. The mind wanders to Cincinnati merely replacing Columbus as the Ohio member of the MLS.  However, this announcement may actually help the crew.

This announcement comes at a time when the league may be forced to hedge its bets and urge Precourt Sports Ventures to sell. The legal battle (read this article for details), has just begun. It is in the best interest of both parties that this gets resolved quickly.

The MLS can’t afford the time in court, which would shorten an already tight window for the Crew to relocate to Austin, and the Crew’s best bet on finding a buyer is this summer while their bargaining power is at its highest and momentum is gaining.

At this juncture, the MLS should cut its losses to prevent an even worse scenario of either having to lose a franchise for a season while the legal battle rages on, or scramble to start a new franchise in Austin on a tight deadline.  The former would be an utter disaster while the latter scenario would not bode well for the new franchise.  It would not be good for the MLS to make a polarizing move under adverse circumstances while simultaneously adding more franchises. As Chipotle has experienced, unsavory customer experience can halt expansion and growth in a way that is difficult to come back from.

While the future of the Columbus Crew SC remains as mysterious as the Bermuda Triangle, the benefits of the addition of Cincy remain clear

What if the Crew leave?

Well, that would suck. That would really suck. We would miss out on thrillers like the one we saw in last year’s U.S. open cup. It was an awesome atmosphere and a competitive game (a testament to what Cincinnati has been able to build), that could be the seedlings of a lifelong rivalry.

If the Crew leave, FC Cincinnati will be a silver lining on a dark and stormy cloud. It will mean soccer at the highest level has not left Ohio. Instead of having to drive to Chicago or Philly or (God forbid) Toronto to watch professional soccer live, Columbus Crew fans and all Ohio soccer fans can keep their dollars in this great state. Sports fans wouldn’t have to travel any further than they normally would to root for their NFL and MLB Cincinnati teams (or their Cleveland rivals when they visit the queen city).

Crew fans could choose to adopt Cincinnati  as their new team or at least as a soccer salve to help the hurt of the Crew leaving. Adopting a new team might feel weird at first but the Columbus faithful could use Cincinnati as a rallying point to eventually bring the Crew back to Columbus at a later time. If there haven’t yet been sitings of #SaveTheCrew at Nippert Stadium, there may very well be in the near future.

While the prospects are good even if Columbus loses this custody battle, the presence of two MLS teams in Ohio would benefit all involved…including the MLS.

Two teams in one market?

What is better than having 1 million potential fans? How about 3 million potential fans within a 2-hour drive? FC Cincinnati would inherit a built-in rival with the added bonus of less travel time. Rivalry drives business; see Google and Facebook, Apple and Microsoft, Chevy and Ford, the Beatles and the Rolling Stones, Coke and Pepsi, Yankees and Red Sox if you don’t believe me. Competition and proximity drive business. We could see a few economic theories at play to the benefit of FC Cincinnati and Columbus Crew SC in the hopes of arriving at a soccer SOS (socially Optimal Solution).

Crew SC and FC Cincinnati fans would be more willing to travel the 90 minutes to watch their beloved teams take on their rival than they would the longer distance required to attend an away match with an ordinary opponent. Attendance would increase for both clubs and an impending mutual respect-spite would result in an ever-growing love of the sport, sense of community rivalry and merchandising sales in both cities. Basically, it would be super dope (as the kids say).

The two clubs would be able to lend each other a hand and support the main goal of growth of soccer in Ohio. Cincinnati could borrow from the already established tradtion, history and legacy and learn from Columbus’ history of mistakes (like allowing non-local ownership to uproot a growing community). Columbus could borrow from the vivacious and sprightly support found in Cincy and use it to both heal and reinvigorate a hurting fanbase. Both attendance numbers will rise (although in Cincy it will be tough to outperform their historic numbers).

It’s a win-win.

One can already see the Black and Gold and Orange and Blue waves invading each city before match games. Bars and restaurants will crawl with fans of both sides arguing over who is better and who has a better shot at a championship. Both will agree on a mutual hatred for the surrounding teams. Each stadium may be more akin to a European soccer match where fans chant and gyrate like crazed rioters for 90 minutes without ceasing. It will be soccer at its best. It will be another great rivalry like Man U vs. Liverpool. Proximity hasn’t hurt those two clubs and a budding rivalry between the Portland Timbers and Seattle Sounders is another example of what could be.

The MLS has a chance to create a unique rivalry that will drive the league expansion it so desperately desires while simultaneously retaining one of its founding members. Compared to the same city rivalries found in LA, NY, Chicago and the San Francisco Bay area, the alternative entertainment options found in Central and Southern Ohio are scarce. This fact, combined with the growing population, from both inside the nation and outside it (where soccer is king), creates a market that will outpace many of its larger populated opponents.

Opponents may say that Columbus is a failed market (more on that later) and that Cincinnati is only experiencing a honeymoon phase, but together these two markets can form a soccer fortress that could end up being the soccer epicenter of the Midwest. I just hope these two cities get the chance to demonstrate how much Ohioans love soccer.