I suspected that. Over the past couple of years the team made major upgrades to Nippert... Widening the field, sound and video board. Does UC still have Big 12 ambitions? I wonder if that played into things. I wonder how FC Cincinnati's presence at nippert affects UCs chances. I also suspected some sort of economic analysis done by FC Cincinnati that showed significant community impacts from a West End site. OTR has really improved over the past 10+ years. Now the area around Findlay Market is taking off. The stadium will kick start redevelopment of the West End. That area is too important to leave fallow.
the Mayor really wanted the west end site. UC loves having fc cincy play there. UC really wanted them to stay, great advertisement for the university the students absolutely loved having the team there and it kept students on campus all summer. FC loves nippert but they also want site control and grass. MLS loves all the corporate sponsorships lol I think the West End is a fantastic site so I'm happy but I would have also been happy continuing to play at nippert. in the long run, the team owned site is probably for the best.
Looks like I can get to and from Cincinnati for not a lot of money. Might have to make the trip next year. What’s cool about the city?
what's your poison? union terminal, music hall, (one of the best places in the country for the symphony) southwest Ohio is big on the arts. over the rhine is a popular bar/food district. we have more parks per capita than any place in the country and most of them are fantastic. Newport on the levy/haffbrahaus is fun at night, kings island is a popular amusement park (not a shitty local one either). riverbend for concerts etc. can travel up to Dayton (45 min drive) to visit Wright Pat airforce base/museum to see the first airplane (Dayton is the home of the wright brothers and is where the first airplane was designed, built, and where the inventors returned to after testing the plane on the beach to avoid death if it failed) and a pretty cool airforce/military museum, they put on air shows pretty frequently. We also have a shit ton of breweries, rhinegeist was the one featured for the mls invite party and is pretty popular. I recommend "the truth" IPA if you like IPAs.
For a Man U fan... Nothing. Seriously, there are over 40 craft breweries in town. Good food scene. First Hof Brau Haus outside Germany is in Newport. There are different festivals over the summer. This weekend is Burberry, but Blink 182 canceled at the last minute, committing to next year. Last year there was a festival called Blink that they are planning to repeat. It was correographed light/ music shows in buildings in downtown and OTR. I'd go to City Beats web site, they are Cincinnati's version of local weekly artsy newsy type free tabloid that every major city has. https://www.citybeat.com/ There is also Kings Island with a number of cool roller coasters. Makes for a decent day. The Creation Museum and Ark Encounter are nearby, if you are into that kind of thing.
Thanks. Good food, good beer, soccer, and a dinosaur with a saddle on its back equates to a pretty nice getaway.
You will also see some remnants of this... https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Big_Pig_Gig Worth the trip on its own.
Almost forgot, Oktoberfest is a really big deal here. We get about 500,000 - 1,000,000 visitors for Oktoberfest. One of the biggest in the world outside Munich.
Here's an interview with their TD: https://www.mlssoccer.com/post/2018...clock-ticking-fc-cincinnati-prepares-mls-2019 Sounds like are going to avoid at least some of the mistakes Minny made.
I had some in-laws that use to live in Cincinnati. Unimpressed. Cincinnati Hogs... works in Arkansas.
The ONLY thing I am bummed about with FCC is losing the Louisville City rivalry. It has become one of the best in the USL. It's authentic. It's real. It's not just a sporting rivarly. It truly is a city rivarly. I don't think others around the country understand or have a grasp on that. If the Crew stay it will replace Lou City. Louisville is my hometown and the Reds and Benegals have such a footprint in Louisville (Bats are Reds longtime AAA affliate), Central KY, and obviously Northern KY as it's just a suburb of Cincy. I am interested to see if FCC can become Kentucky's team since they provide so much support to the Reds and Bengals. I think it's clear that Northern KY will throw support behind FCC but I'm curious to see if Louisville and Lexington (Central KY) throw their support behind FCC or stick to Lou City or if they can bring themselves to support both. I am 10 years removed from living in that area so I don't know the answer. The soccer culture is rapidly improving in that triangle of Cincinnati, Lousiville, and Lexington and FCC will be HUGE for that area. I am supper excited. Even though the Rapids are my local club and I support them, I told myself yesterday I will be make the trek to Cincy for their first MLS game and whenever the Rapids play there.
Unless, USOC gets an influx of funds to pay for travel in the early rounds, I suspect they will play each other yearly in the Open Cup. As long as Louisville doesn't lose it's first game.