The head of Major League Soccer will visit Cincinnati in November, an FC Cincinnati spokesperson confirmed Monday.
The Nov. 29 visit, which will include a tour of the city with MLS commissioner Don Garber and Cincinnati Mayor John Cranley, could be a prelude to inviting FC Cincinnati to join MLS.
Twenty teams currently comprise the league, but Garber and others hope to expand to 28, according to ESPN. Four of those new additions have already been selected: Minnesota United FC, Atlanta United FC, Los Angeles FC and Miami will all join before 2020. That leaves four additional slots to be filled by up-and-comers like FC Cincinnati and St. Louis FC.
And the team is genuinely in a good position to make that happen, having seen strong ticket sales throughout the season. FC Cincinnati even visited MLS headquarters earlier this year for a conversation that's been kept confidential in the intervening months.
FC Cincinnati is currently part of the United Soccer League, but fans and commentators have suggested that moving on to MLS could bolster excitement and engagement among crowds.
"There would just be a big spike if it was MLS," said season-ticket holder Amy Meyer, 27, earlier this year. "There's no denying that."
