CINCINNATI — Ohio is home to many proud sports teams and organizations but also brings in some of the country’s largest sporting events that draw in millions of dollars in economic impact each year. However, one of our largest cities is only just now forming a sports commission to bring larger scale events to the area.
Cincinnati is a rich sports town. From the first professional baseball team, the Reds at Great American Ballpark, to one of the biggest phenoms in sports- with Joe Burrow leading the Bengals at Paycor Stadium, to the newest addition to the Cincinnati sports scene with FC Cincinnati at the world-class TQL Stadium.
But it raises the question: why is the Queen City just now establishing a Sports Commission?
It’s no secret that the addition of a Major League Soccer team in Cincinnati has not only created a deeper love for the sport but also a resurgence in the West End.
“We want to promote Cincinnati to the world and bring the world to Cincinnati,” Jeff Berding the CO-CEO of FC Cincinnati said. “And use soccer, global fútbol, as a vehicle to show off this great city.”
Jeff Berding is looking forward to seeing what a sports commission can do for the sports scene in Cincinnati. (Spectrum News 1/Katie Kapusta)
Berding is not only the Co-CEO of the club, but also a large voice in the sports community of Cincinnati as a board member of Visit Cincy and also spending nearly two decades with the Bengals. He’s been a big proponent of bringing back a sports commission after one dissolved during COVID, and believes FC Cincinnati’s success is one part of what can bring more large scale sports events here.
“We believe that we rise together,” he said. “And it’s not about FC Cincinnati, it’s not about this community, this neighborhood, about our supporters who come to the games and more broadly to the region. We want to be that new energy that when people say there’s something about Cincinnati that has you guys shining, what is it? And we’d like people to say well we’ve got this soccer team that’s really helped lead the way.”
TQL Stadium will be a host of the Club World Cup this summer. (Spectrum News 1/Katie Kapusta)
TQL Stadium has hosted U.S. National soccer teams many times and is a host for the Club World Cup this summer. It’s something Cincinnati City Council Member Seth Walsh said has been key to Cincinnati’s success.
“They’ve made it a priority to not just be a local soccer team, but be an international soccer team,” Walsh said. “So people wake up every day thinking about how to achieve that. And we see the success of it already. Overnight we were hosting the Club World Cup. But we don’t have someone doing that for all of Cincinnati.”
Walsh along with the rest of city council and the Hamilton County commissioners recently voted to form the Cincinnati Sports Commission. Cincinnati was the only top 50 metro city without one.
“We don’t play on the world stage because we don’t have people waking up every single day thinking about this,” Walsh said.
Cincinnati is now playing catch up to cities in Ohio — Cleveland is celebrating 25 years of a sports commission and Columbus 24 years. Leaders in the other ‘Big C’ cities say their sports commissions have been vital in bringing in large scale events
In Cleveland, that included last year’s women’s Final Four and its $33 million of economic impact. And in Columbus, this year’s NHL Stadium Series and last year’s MLS All-Star Game are among the most recent headliners.
Cleveland hosted the Women’s Final Four last year, bringing in $33 million in economic impact. (Spectrum News 1/Katie Kapusta)
“Having the right people rowing in the same direction, understanding how these facilities make a big impact on your community from an image standpoint for a quality of life piece, and then the economic development that crosses off all the boxes of trying to do these things,” Linda Logan the President and CEO of the Columbus Sports Commission said. “And I know for Columbus in particular, it’s been a game changer.”
Columbus’ new soccer stadium, Lower.com Field, has also been a major contributing factor to the sports scene there. (Spectrum News 1/Katie Kapusta)
“Over time, we’ve established a really good reputation with the NCAA’s of the world, with some of the big events that we’ve hosted in the professional sports realm,” Mike Mulhall the senior VP of business development for the Cleveland Sports Commission said. “And the thing is, if you do them, you get a chance to host them and then it goes really well, that just increases your opportunities.”
These relationships are what the newly formed Cincinnati Sports Commission will begin working towards to bring some of those events here to the Queen City.
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