FC Cincinnati, Once Again, Won’t Stream the Preseason

Kevin Wallace

FC Cincinnati announced today that they will again be making the absurd decision not to broadcast preseason matches this year.

Would the streams be great? Maybe! Most people have smart phones in their pockets capable of broadcasting HD video and audio from any point on earth with decent cell service. And, many of the facilities will have Wi-Fi out to the fields, so a decent picture isn’t really an issue. Even if broadcast on a tape delay, the way most soccer was consumed in this country up until 2005, would be an improvement.

Why won’t they? Well, there may be good reason. Before the 2019 season, at the incredibly prestigious Carolina Challenge Cup, FC Cincinnati unveiled a brand new tactical identity. That failed horribly. That preseason was a great indicator for the season: tactically inept and not nearly as fun as it seemed like it would be.

Then before the 2021 season we were treated to the tweets that a Louisville City administrator scored in a pantsing of the Orange and Blue. Turns out, great indicator for the season ahead. An utter embarrassment.

So perhaps FC is a little shy about this. Worried about showing people how they look now, and its impact on ticket sales later. Maybe F  isn’t used to be good. Maybe they don’t think they will be.

Either way, it’s a cowardly move that is aggressively anti-fan. And yet another anti-fan move the club has made this offseason.