CINCINNATI – The USL’s FC Cincinnati was introduced as the next expansion team set to join Major League Soccer on Tuesday afternoon as club owner Carl Lindner III and Mayor of Cincinnati John Cranley welcomed MLS Commissioner Don Garber for the official presentation at Rhinegeist in downtown Cincinnati.

A member of the USL since 2015, FC Cincinnati has been emblematic of the league’s successful strategic expansion across the United States and Canada over the past five years. The league has excelled in identifying world-class ownership groups dedicated to growing professional soccer in vibrant new markets across North America. As a result, it has created a thriving infrastructure that now sees more than 30 strong clubs competing in the USL this season and a new third division set to launch in 2019.

“Today’s announcement in Cincinnati further demonstrates the league’s success in identifying and cultivating new exciting soccer markets across the continent,” said USL President Jake Edwards. “FC Cincinnati is one of the growing number of great stories in our league, built on the diligent work put in by the club, the city’s passionate fans and its outstanding ownership group.

“As an organization, the United Soccer League continue to build a foundation for soccer across North America by delivering the thrill of the professional game to millions of new fans. For 2019, the USL has already announced several new markets including Austin, El Paso, Memphis, and Birmingham, as well as two major long-term projects in Chicago and Oakland’s East Bay. We also anticipate welcoming our latest addition to the league in the next two weeks.

““The rapidly growing third division, with new markets like Statesboro, Georgia, and Greenville, South Carolina, in the Southeast, Madison, Wisconsin, in the Midwest and Tucson, Arizona, in the West, will soon announce several new markets as it moves closer toward kicking off in 2019 with between 12 and 16 teams.”