Jeff Berding (born February 8, 1967) is an American sports executive and politician. He serves as co-CEO of FC Cincinnati, a professional soccer team he co-founded in 2015. He is also a

Democratic Democrat, Democrats, or Democratic may refer to: Politics *A proponent of democracy, or democratic government; a form of government involving rule by the people. *A member of a Democratic Party: **Democratic Party (United States) (D) **Democratic ...

politician, having served on the Cincinnati City Council from 2005 to 2011. From 1996 to 2015, he worked as an executive for the

Cincinnati Bengals The Cincinnati Bengals are a professional American football team based in Cincinnati. The Bengals compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's American Football Conference (AFC) AFC North, North division. The c ...

. Berding is currently serving as board chair of the Cincinnati USA Convention and Visitors Bureau.

Early life

Jeff Berding grew up in the Westwood neighborhood of Cincinnati, Ohio, with nine siblings. Berding became interested in sports at an early age and played basketball, baseball, and soccer in school. He graduated from St. Xavier High School in Cincinnati in 1985 and attended Miami University. He received his MBA from Xavier University.

Sports career

Cincinnati Bengals (1996–2015)

Berding was an executive with the

for 19 years, starting in 1996 after working on a

sales tax A sales tax is a tax paid to a governing body for the sales of certain goods and services. Usually laws allow the seller to collect funds for the tax from the consumer at the point of purchase. When a tax on goods or services is paid to a govern ...

initiative that would fund construction of Paul Brown Stadium and Great American Ball Park. He quit his position as Director of Sales & Public Affairs in July 2015 to found the new soccer club FC Cincinnati.

FC Cincinnati (2015–present)

In August 2015, news broke of the formation of a United Soccer League franchise team to be located in Cincinnati and begin play in spring 2016, with Jeff Berding as president and general manager. Upon launching, FC Cincinnati was quickly noted for its unusually high attendance, frequently outdrawing

Major League Soccer Major League Soccer (MLS) is a men's professional soccer league sanctioned by the United States Soccer Federation, which represents the sport's highest level in the United States. The league comprises 29 teams—26 in the U.S. and 3 in Canada ...

matches and breaking league records. In October 2017, Berding spoke at a Hamilton County Commissioners public hearing on major projects to advocate for public funding to build a new stadium for FC Cincinnati to play in, should the club's bid to join

as an

expansion team An expansion team is a new team in a sports league, usually from a city that has not hosted a team in that league before, formed with the intention of satisfying the demand for a local team from a population in a new area. Sporting leagues also ...

succeed. FC Cincinnati was officially granted a Major League Soccer franchise on May 29, 2018, to begin play in 2019. Berding retained his positions as president and general manager through the transition from USL to MLS. However, on May 30, 2019, FC Cincinnati announced they had hired Gerard Nijkamp to take over Berding's general manager responsibilities. Berding said Nijkamp was hired for his lifelong soccer expertise which Berding lacked. Berding remained the club's president and shifted his work focus to the business and branding side of the club.

Political career

Berding was elected to a two-year term on the Cincinnati City Council in 2005 in his first campaign for political office. He previously worked for Senator

John Glenn John Herschel Glenn Jr. (July 18, 1921 – December 8, 2016) was an American Marine Corps aviator, engineer, astronaut, businessman, and politician. He was the third American in space, and the first American to orbit the Earth, circling ...

and on other political campaigns. In the 2005 election, Berding raised the most money of all the candidates in the race. Although he is a Democrat, the council seats are nonpartisan. He served as Chair of the Rules and Government Operations Committee, Vice-chair of the Finance Committee, and was a member of the Law and Public Safety Committee and the Economic Development Committee. In 2009, the local Democratic Party withdrew its endorsement of Berding. In January 2011, Berding announced that he would soon resign from his council position, citing a desire to focus on his position with the

. He stayed on the council for two more months before officially resigning in March.

Honors

In September 2016, the Ohio Valley Chapter of the National Multiple Sclerosis Society named Jeff Berding that year's recipient of the Silver Hope Award. In his State of the City speech in October 2016, Cincinnati mayor John Cranley named Jeff Berding and

Carl Lindner III Carl Henry Lindner III is an American businessman from Cincinnati, Ohio. He has served as the co-chief executive officer of American Financial Group since January 2005. He has also acted as chief executive officer and majority owner of FC Cincinn ...

as the shared holders of the Cincinnatian of the Year award for their work managing FC Cincinnati.

Personal life

Jeff Berding has three children – Allie, Jack, and Grace. He married Lindsay Bumbaugh in 2009.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Berding, Jeff Living people Ohio Democrats Sportspeople from Cincinnati Politicians from Cincinnati Cincinnati City Council members St. Xavier High School (Ohio) alumni FC Cincinnati FC Cincinnati owners Miami University alumni Cincinnati Bengals executives USL Championship executives 1967 births