FC Cincinnati USL Superthread

http://www.socceramerica.com/articl...ti-draws-another-big-crowd.html?edition=15707

“It is a pleasant surprise each time,” said head coach John Harkes.“The guys are out in the community doing a lot of service. This type of soccer is entertaining and pleasing to the eye. People just wanted to see a high level of performance in our city. The families are fantastic and their passion comes across really well.”

 

Note that anyone attending a match in The Bailey will now require printed ticket to show security due to people sneaking into the section. It stinks, but if something did happen with section being beyond capacity club would face legal action.

 

FCC Supporters:

https://twitter.com/DieInnenstadt


https://twitter.com/ThePrideCincy



THE LEGION
https://twitter.com/FCCTheLegion



https://twitter.com/TheDenFCC

 

Tonight's official attendance: 19,112. Thank you again Cincinnati for your incredible support! #FCCincy #CINvTOR

— FC Cincinnati (@fccincinnati) June 19, 2016

Great match with terrific play and atmosphere, love the fight to pull off the comeback. The second goal had brilliant build up and superb finish.

 

A moment of silence is being held for the victims of the attack in Orlando last weekend. #OrlandoUnited pic.twitter.com/q3JGCshykX

— FC Cincinnati (@fccincinnati) June 18, 2016

Wanted to mention display before kick off in honor of 49 dead in Orlando. One thing about soccer is how dark times bring the best in supporters around the various leagues.

 

Keeps on going well, be curious affect of holiday weekend on crowd.

 

Surprised this team isn't getting more attention over here, their success is astounding so far

 

16,000 average, third in the east.

35,000 sell out for a friendly against Crystal Palace today.

Locals are taking notice.

 

The thing is the crowds are growing every week. Every game they break their own record from their last home game. I'm extremely jealous. I was psyched to see 4k at our friendly last Wednesday.

Where is Nippert Stadium located at in Cincy? Pretty easy for fans to get to?

 

Congratulation's on the great crowd for your friendly.

FC Cincinnati Draws Sell-Out Crowd For Crystal Palace FC Friendly
http://wvxu.org/post/fc-cincinnati-draws-sell-out-crowd-crystal-palace-fc-friendly#stream/0

 

Thank you.

Nippert Stadium is located uptown Cincinnati on the campus of the University of Cincinnati.

It is fairly easy to get to via car and parking is fine from my experience. I don't know about bus service in the area, but imagine college campus would have stops.

That is part of the challenge if MLS demands we build our own stadium. Location wise be hard pressed to find place could build on that would be as good, not to mention cost to build something close to Nippert size and quality.

 

Still going strong for a mid week match.

 

As a T2 fan in the USL I am happy to be the best supported mls second team but seeing the amazing crowds that Cincinnati and Sacramento can achieve I would be ok with relegation if we ever finished bottom. We already have a u23 PDL team which could cause trouble but we may not be great in the standings but we aren't that bad yet (hopefully never). My friend who is a Palace was well impressed with the friendly game. Shelhurst park only hold's 25,000 so 35,000+ attendance is amazing. As I said above, I''m ok with relegation, but I am also ok with promotion into MLS (I think this club has more potential than nearly all NASL clubs already). I'm not sure who could possibly be relegated right now from the MLS. Dallas FC are the worst supported but not by far and are on top of the western conference right now.

 

CINCINNATI – FC Cincinnati made USL history on Wednesday night as it broke the league’s single-season attendance record as 16,127 fans packed into Nippert Stadium to see the USL Game of the Week clash against the New York Red Bulls II.

Cincinnati’s current total attendance of 164,109 moved past Sacramento Republic FC’s record set last season of 158,516. The side still has five home games remaining, including this Saturday night’s River Cities Cup clash with Louisville City FC. The club is currently averaging 16,411 fans this season.

----------------------

5 matches remaining, if we continue to average like we have been.

5 x 16411 = 82055

82055 + 162109 = 244164

Staggering number given hopes at beginning of the season were to finish at around 150000 total attendance.

 

Looking strong for Louisville. Rumblings that may open part of upper deck if get past 20000 before match day.

 

FC Cincinnati making a strong case for MLS promotion.

MLS: FC Cincy making bold statement to entire soccer community
http://www.cincinnati.com/story/spo...d-statement-entire-soccer-community/87380208/

 

These numbers are incredible. Cincy has earned a good long look by MLS.

 

The official attendance for today's match: 20,151! You're incredible Cincinnati... thank you! #CINvLOU

— FC Cincinnati (@fccincinnati) July 23, 2016

Still going strong despite heat.

 

Train keeps on rolling.

Interesting interview I read with club President Jeff Berding about how after some initial promotions for first few games they haven't pursued that as much given the demand. Meaning the vast majority of people are paying face value for their ticket. Essentially the philosophy is to maintain the sense of value.

 

I spoke with FC Cincinnati head coach & former #usmnt midfielder John Harkes on coaching, USL, & his team's success https://t.co/q1cl5lH6Jh

— Brian Sciaretta (@BrianSciaretta) August 17, 2016

 

I'm not one to blame officiating, but yesterday's match in New York the VAR was used and yet managed to make a more dubious call than the initial one on the field. Losing star goal keeper and giving up a penalty early sunk any hope to beat the best side in the league.

Moving on and hoping Charlotte match goes well as been a rough week and hate to see slip into 4th or 5th or even 6th due to bad patch.

 

10,000+ now guaranteed for every home match. Hope wins accompany the big crowds.

 

Mitch Hildebrandt's red card has been over turned and he will be available against Charlotte tonight.

So, the video assistant referee was the cause for an incorrect call that really hurt us for the match and the league overturned it after review. Now, when anyone argues this will remove error and controversy, this is an example of that being the opposite.

 

Been a bad week now getting 1 point out of possible 9 and slipping to 4th place. Dangerous position now could slip to 5th or 6th and lose that valuable home playoff match that would be huge for local buzz. Really need 3 points on Monday to avoid going into free fall.

 

News on television ratings for FC Cincinnati

-----------------

FC Cincinnati has televised all of its home games on one of the Sinclair Broadcast Group stations locally. Most have aired on WSTR-TV (Channel 64), while a handful have run on the CW affiliate or on Channel 12.

Those 15 games – it also aired a road game at Louisville in June – averaged a 1.2 household rating, meaning 1.2 percent of all TV households in the Cincinnati market watched part of those games. That translates into just more than 10,000 local households tuning in.

The ratings have been so strong that FC Cincinnati hopes to broadcast its road matches next season as well as home games, FC Cincinnati President and General Manager Jeff Berding said. The club also is looking for advertisers in hopes of televising playoff games this season. FC Cincinnati clinched a playoff berth last weekend.

The Sinclair partnership is working well and is playing an important role in marketing the team, Berding said. Fewer than 10 of the United Soccer League’s 29 teams have TV deals and only a handful televise all of their home games, Berding said.

“We believed that being on local television was a critical part of our brand-building efforts, so once word started getting out about FC Cincinnati people could easily check out the games on TV to see what the buzz was all about,” Berding said.

The team sells the ads that air during the games. He said he’s pleased with the ratings, which have built as the season progressed.

“Our success has far surpassed what anyone would have predicted prior to our first match in April,” he said.

Remarkably, it beats the local ratings on WLWT-TV (Channel 5) for NBC’s coverage of the English Premier League, Jon Lawhead, Sinclair’s group manager for Cincinnati, told me. NBC periodically airs that well-known soccer league’s games, typically in the 12:30 p.m. slot on Saturdays. Most English Premier League games air in the U.S. on NBC Sports Network on cable or satellite.

The ratings in FC Cincinnati’s first season of existence, playing in the third-tier USL, have impressed Lawhead.

“I’ve been very happy with our partnership with FC Cincinnati,” he said. “They have done a tremendous job starting this franchise and it’s been a success on the field, at the gate and on our Sinclair TV stations here in Cincinnati. I can tell you I have had many people thank me for putting FC Cincinnati on TV. I love the localism of FC Cincinnati, as we’re always looking to bring local news and events to the Tri-State community, whether it be on Local 12, Star 64 or the CW. FC Cincinnati fits in perfectly.”

The highest-rated game also happened to be the one that set the USL’s all-time single-game attendance record. FC Cincinnati, which also has broken the USL’s single-season attendance record, made a push to get fans out and break the league single-game attendance record for its May 14 game against the Pittsburgh Riverhounds. A crowd of 23,375 piled into the team’s Nippert Stadium home on the University of Cincinnati’s campus. Almost the same number of households tuned in on Channel 12 to watch the game. WKRC hauled in a 2.7 rating, meaning 23,751 households watched FC Cincinnati’s 1-0 victory. That game beat ratings for some of the NBA playoff games on WCPO-TV (Channel 9) and some NHL playoffs on Channel 5, Lawhead said.

That was one of two games that aired on Channel 12. Those averaged a 2.1 rating, meaning a little more than 18,000 households watched those games.

FC Cincinnati’s friendly match vs. Crystal Palace of the English Premier League aired on Channel 64 but it drew the second-best FC Cincinnati ratings. It pulled a 2.3 rating, meaning just more than 20,000 households tuned in to that exhibition game, which drew 35,061 fans and sold out Nippert.

The two most-recent TV games, both of which aired 7-9 p.m. Saturday on Channel 64, beat Channel 9 and WXIX-TV (Channel 19) in that time slot, Lawhead said.

FC Cincinnati has two more regular-season home games that will air locally on TV. The Labor Day game Sept. 5 at 4:30 p.m. vs. St. Louis FC will be televised on the CW while the regular-season home finale Sept. 17 vs. Orlando City B is scheduled to air on Channel 64 at 7 p.m.

---------------------

Some encouraging numbers showing there is interest in the sport on television locally. Hopefully means more revenue to help the club's ambition.