CINCINNATI — Major League Soccer added Cincinnati in its latest round of expansion Tuesday, rewarding a city that has set attendance records during three seasons of United Soccer League play and has a stadium deal in place. More: Enquirer Q&A with MLS Commissioner Don Garber

More: Paul Daugherty: FC Cincinnati has been major league from the beginning

More: Alan Koch is excited to build FC Cincinnati's MLS roster

Lindner III, during the exclusive Enquirer interview with Garber and Berding, said the team first learned of its confirmation for MLS about a month ago while attending the opening match at Los Angeles FC's Banc of California Stadium. LOS ANGELES: FC Cincinnati were confirmed as the 26th team in Major League Soccer on Tuesday after being named as the league's latest expansion franchise. On Tuesday, MLS announced FC Cincinnati, which has been playing its home games in the United Soccer League at the University of Cincinnati’s Nippert Stadium, will be joining the highest ranks of professional soccer in the United States:

FC Cincinnati hosted a celebration in the city as the three-year-old team’s move to the MLS was announced:

According to Patrick Brennan of the Cincinnati Enquirer, FC Cincinnati will start playing MLS games in the 2019 season and can thank fan support that exceeded some of the teams currently in the league for helping push it to the next level. Strong attendance numbers for the club's first games snowballed and, by the end of the United Soccer League franchise's first season, a league-record 333,353 fans attended matches. The club will continue under the same FC Cincinnati name when it joins MLS next season and will play at Nippert Stadium, home of the University of Cincinnati, until the club’s 21,000-seat soccer stadium in the city's West End neighborhood is completed in 2021.
FC Cincinnati is announced as the 26th expansion team of Major League Soccer, set to begin play next year.