Two Teams, One Journey

Ever since FC Cincinnati began its first season back in 2016, the hope was getting the franchise to Major League Soccer. The fans showed up in record numbers, the team was competitive and MLS took notice. MLS started announcing its plans to expand from 22 teams to 28 in the coming years. Los Angeles FC became the 23rd team in 2018 and Miami, with the help of David Beckham, would enter the league in 2020. MLS also wanted to add two more teams in the near future and was narrowed down to four cities. Sacramento, Nashville, Cincinnati and Detroit all had bids being examined with plans in place for stadiums, funding and growth deciding who would receive the coveted two spots.

Nashville was granted one of the two MLS expansion spots even though they had yet to play a full season of soccer. The news was a surprise for many soccer fans, and then the waiting game started as three cities waited to hear the decision for the second expansion bid. Days turned into weeks, weeks turned into months until the decision was made for the second expansion bid. After finalizing a tenuous and drown out debate over its stadium location, Cincinnati was to become the 24th team in MLS starting in 2019. Cincinnati will leapfrog Nashville and Miami, who enter the MLS in 2020, and not have to share picks in the MLS SuperDraft and have more unprotected players to choose from.

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My name is Derek Bell and I am the Soccer Manager. I contribute articles covering FC Cincinnati in particular. I have been an avid sports fan since I was little, with my favorite teams being FC Cincinnati, the Cincinnati Bengals and the Cincinnati Reds. When football season is around you will more than likely hear me talking about fantasy football.

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