Patrick Brennan

pbrennan@enquirer.com

Futbol Club Cincinnati's campaign for Major League Soccer has led club officials to the league's office in New York City, according to a Sports Illustrated report.

SI.com's Brian Straus reported Friday FC Cincinnati representatives have had multiple meetings with MLS officials at their 5th Avenue headquarters.

The report doesn't include a timeline for when the meetings occurred, nor does it indicate who attended.

FC Cincinnati President and General Manager Jeff Berding declined to comment when reached by The Enquirer Saturday morning.

An MLS spokesman didn't immediately respond to The Enquirer's request for comment.

Meetings with MLS officials in New York wouldn't necessarily be out of character for FC Cincinnati. The club has had contact with MLS officials on at least one prior occasion, during the MLS All-Star Game festivities in San Jose in July. The meetings there were described by Berding as social in nature.

Straus' report came after the expected Friday announcement that Minnesota United FC would be named the 22nd club in MLS.

Minnesota United FC's stadium arrangement good news for Cincinnati?

The competition for one of the few remaining MLS expansion spots is heating up and FC Cincinnati supporters might find some encouragement in Minnesota's stadium arrangement.

Minnesota will play the 2017 MLS season at the University of Minnesota's TCF Bank Stadium, a 51,000-seat college football venue. Minnesota has a soccer-specific stadium in the works but could end up playing at the college stadium for several years, according to multiple reports.

Why does this matter to FC Cincinnati? It's yet another example of an MLS club that was permitted to play in a college sports venue. Other clubs have followed a similar path during their early years in the league. Real Salt Lake's stay at the University of Utah's Rice-Eccles Stadium is another relatively recent example.

For now, FC Cincinnati's own MLS proposition appears to chart a similar route. Cincinnati is in the first year of a deal to play its home games at the University of Cincinnati's Nippert Stadium, home to UC's Bearcats football program. The arrangement could see FC Cincinnati play at the venue for up to 15 years.

Whether or not FC Cincinnati views Minnesota's stadium situation as a positive case precedent remains to be seen. Berding declined to comment Saturday when asked about Minnesota's stadium arrangement.

Berding has repeatedly expressed his confidence in Nippert Stadium as a suitable stadium solution for FC Cincinnati.