Since the announcement that minor league soccer club FC Cincinnati would be coming to Nippert Stadium, there has been rampant speculation about potential changes to the seating configuration, locker rooms, video board, and sound system. After averaging over 17,000 fans in its first four home games (which is roughly five times the league average) and setting the league’s single-game multiple times (the latest match drawing 23,375 fans), FC Cincinnati is definitely here to stay, and FC|C is now eyeing a jump up to Major League Soccer sometime down the road.
As part of FC|C’s effort to “raise the profile of soccer in Cincinnati” by attracting US National Team and other high-profile matches, the club wants to both widen and lengthen the field by five yards (James Gamble Nippert Memorial Stadium has been a football field for 100 years – I unequivocally refuse to call it a pitch).