Welcome to the big show, FC Cincinnati.

The club with by far the most staggering attendance figures in all of lower-division American soccer is off to MLS. League commissioner Don Garber & Co. announced The Queen City as the latest MLS expansion market Tuesday at Rhinegeist Brewery. FC Cincinnati will officially become MLS’ 24th team, set to debut in 2019.

“Let me begin by letting you in on a little secret — alright, maybe not so little,” FC Cincinnati president and GM Jeff Berding said at the announcement. “This day was always the vision for (owner and CEO) Carl Linder and me from the day that we began on Aug. 12, 2015. This was always the plan. We had a vision of where we were going, we had a plan on how we were going to get there, we had a commitment to hold people accountable and we were always guided by the same core values.”

The city’s bid was chosen second, after Nashville, from a selection process that originally started with 12 cities vying for a spot among four. The remaining two cities will be selected at a later date. Sacramento and Detroit, both of whom were named finalists alongside Nashville and Cincy for the first two openings, will now have to reshuffle back into the deck and re-prove their worth over the other eight cities still holding out a glimmer of hope for a spot in MLS: St. Louis, Indianapolis, Raleigh, Charlotte, Phoenix, San Diego, San Antonio and Tampa Bay/St. Petersburg.

Some of those cities’ bids have effectively been killed already due to a lack of local public support, but technically all are still in play. MLS has made it clear that its unlikely to select bids that don’t have a concrete stadium plan and financing ironed out.

This year, Los Angeles FC became the league’s 23rd team. FC Cincinnati will become the 24th next year, while Nashville plans on debuting in 2020 as the 25th. David Beckham and his investment group continue to sort out their ongoing saga down in Miami, but eventually will join as No. 26. Two other markets will be chosen out of the remaining eight to reach MLS’ ultimate stated goal of 28 teams.

FC Cincinnati, currently in the USL, will continue playing at Nippert Stadium in MLS while its shiny new stadium is being constructed.

“After many thrills of victories and agonies of defeat — the great stadium and players that’ll be part of your history — you’re going to remember this day as a truly historic event for The Queen City, for FC Cincinnati, for Major League Soccer and for soccer in North America, so congratulations,” Garber said. “You should be incredibly proud of your meteoric rise as one of our continent’s most incredible soccer cities. And it’s a testament to so many of you that are here today — an event that I will promise you, I’ll never forget.”

Follow Kevin on Twitter: @KJboxing.

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