ISC Albuquerque 2023

Well, it’s a been a while since we’ve written a proper blog post. So we thought, after our trip to ISC 2023 in Albuquerque, NM we could write a thoughtful one. For those of you who don’t know Die Innenstadt are part of the Independent Supporters Council and have actively participated since at least 2018. “The Independent Supporters Council is a collective that is here to promote supporters’ culture and advocate for fair treatment of supporters, both at home and on the road”. We work to ensure cheap away tickets, safe travel for fans, enhanced community engagement and focus on overall being impactful members of our city and support FCC in an inclusive way. This was the third time we have attended ISC (2019, 2022, 2023) and each time we see continued growth, meet new friends and learn a tremendous amount.

A key takeaway from the event is that there are some incredible SGs (supporter groups) doing impactful charity work. We’ve always been so proud of what we’ve been able to accomplish but we also know that we can always be better. One of the most important parts of Die Innenstadt is our charity giving. We want to not only support FC Cincinnati but we also want to be good neighbors and partners while doing good through our various charities. We were able to raise over $4000 last year! Part of what we have learned is that we can be focused not only on raising money but also by volunteering our time. We are working with our current and potential new charity partners to learn what their needs are and how they’ve changed in the past months/years. This will help us reshape our charity work within Die Innenstadt to be more impactful.

The 2022 World Cup in Qatar presented soccer supporters around the world with a more difficult challenge: traveling and supporting their teams safely regardless of their sexual orientation, how they identify, their race, and their gender. Qatar’s human rights and LGBTQ+ rights record is far from untarnished and this presented the global soccer supporters community a chance to get a seat at the table. ISC works with organizations like You Can Play Project and Pride in Football to insert themselves into the conversation with FIFA (and UEFA, MLS, etc.) to bring these issues to light and to demand action and assurances of safety throughout. This work continues for the 2026 World Cup in North America and we continue to build relationships with these organizations to help drive improvements at our own stadiums and with our own clubs.

We heard an informative presentation from Josie Nixon from the You Can Play Project. This organization works with pro and college sports team organizations in North America to provide more inclusive systems, match days, and experiences so that everyone can enjoy the sport safely and feel welcomed in stadiums. We also attended a presentation from Joe White from Pride in Football which is an England-based LGBTQ+ network of fans. Their organization does similar work in the UK and in Europe to help bring LGBTQ+ fans a safer and more inclusive experience. One of the key quotes I took away from this presentation was “no pride without all”. If anyone feels unwelcome or uncomfortable in a space we occupy, it is our responsibility to work to be better to ensure that we can rectify those issues. 

There were other important topics we were able to glean more information from like away day travel. There are concerted efforts to standardize away ticket pricing and processes around away day travel. Similar to some European leagues where away tickets have more structure, MLS now has some infrastructure in place to allow away supporters a certain percentage of tickets, or a minimum number, for smaller stadiums. There will also be pricing caps put in place but these numbers have not been finalized. Some stadiums currently allow only certain objects to be brought into the stadium but it is inconsistent across league. The hope is that these rules will be universal with the league moving forward so that there is no confusion when traveling to away venues.  We will continue to update as we learn more but Melinda and I are actively involved in these constructive conversations with the league and clubs. 

Lastly, ISC is overall, a fantastic place to meet with other SGs to learn and share our experiences to grow the active support for soccer in the United States and Canada. We are so fortunate to have such great friends and allies across the nations that share in our collective goals. SGs are working together on a supporters guide for each city so that away fans know where match day events, etc. are happening and where they can find safe, welcoming environments (except Columbus). These are things you can look forward to in the coming months. With what we’ve learned we continue to grow our plans to launch new merch, have more impactful charity work, and support our club in a way that is unique to us. 

Overall, ISC was a rousing success. We learned so much, and met so many wonderful people as well as reconnected with friends from across the soccer world.

Juncta Juvant.

David

2023 Scarf Release

This year's scarf is a thank you. A thank you to the staff, servers, bartenders, partners, and institutions at our neighborhood bars and restaurants that we've been so lucky and fortunate to call home.

We have had countless special and amazing memories throughout our 8-year existence. Many of these memories happened in the bars and restaurants we have partnered with. We want to honor and thank those community institutions for graciously hosting us. Without these partners, we wouldn't have made so many friends, or memories. Nor would we have raised as much/donated as much as we've been able to, to our community. The people who've worked on match days and during our events are some of our most passionate supporters. From the bottom of our hearts Thank you!

These memories include our rowdy early days in years 1 and 2 and beyond at Rhinehaus and Club Rhino, our bastion of home support at Mecklenburg Gardens, and our recent home bars at Sam Adams and now OTR StillHouse. As we've grown as a group, we've been so fortunate to have partners like these. We can't wait to make more memories. You can get your membership package today HERE

With love,

Die Innenstadt Board

2022 Season Opener + Special Prideraiser

We’re thrilled to be kicking off the 2022 season on Saturday at Mecklenburg Gardens against Austin FC. We’ll be there for the 6pm Eastern kickoff supporting the orange and blue as always, but we wanted to raise awareness for something bigger than the team.

Everyone is aware of the war in Ukraine, and we would love to find ways to support the Ukrainian people (let us know if you have any suggestions). The war has also unfortunately diverted everyone’s attention from other important issues domestically that we want to raise awareness about. Over the years, Die Innenstadt has helped raise funds for LGBTQ+ youth by donating funds to GLSEN, Athlete Ally, and Transform Cincy.

This week the State of Texas detailed plans to require all teachers, nurses, and doctors to report parents to the state who help their minor children undergo gender-affirming medical care such as hormone treatments for potential child abuse charges. Ohio lawmakers are also debating House Bill 454, which emulates the laws seen in Texas.

At the same time, other states are proposing legislation to require all teachers to out their LGBTQ+ students to their parents. While there are sometimes exceptions where abuse, neglect, or abandonment are expected from outing the student, this will surely have a chilling effect on any students who want to come out, but fear being outed to unsupportive parents.

These are attacks on both the students who receive support and care from their guardians at home and those who fear coming out to their families and confide in others.

The Trevor Project, an organization that supports LGBTQ+ youth, reports that 42% of this community seriously consider attempting suicide. Students with affirming spaces report significantly lower rates of suicidal thoughts.

In light of these events, we wanted to let everyone know that there is a special Prideraiser campaign going on for the first week of the MLS season. This is the same platform we use every June to support charitable organizations locally (we will do this again, by the way). With this Prideraiser, 100% of donations from this campaign will benefit the critical work done by the Transgender Education Network of Texas (TENT). Enter your donation amount per goal scored across all MLS games this opening week. The past two seasons saw 35 goals scored in this timeframe, so a $1 pledge would raise $35.

We strongly encourage all of our members to consider donating what they can to this Prideraiser campaign or any of the other organizations outlined to help our LGBTQ+ youth.

Juncta Juvant

Our New Home: OTR StillHouse

OUR NEW HOME

We are thrilled to introduce everyone to the OTR StillHouse, our new home starting in the 2022 season.

The OTR StillHouse is a full service bar and restaurant with on-site distillery and brewery. They are opening with award winning whiskey and gin as well as a dozen beers on tap. They will also craft their own wine and soda. A large outdoor Biergarten anchors the OTR StillHouse with a spacious indoor area behind sliding doors and a small bottle shop upstairs.

View of the Biergarten from the bottle shop upstairs

After meeting with the owners, we were extremely impressed with their facilities and excited to partner with them. We share similar values about giving back to the community and being a force of good for Cincinnati.

The OTR StillHouse is located at 2017 Branch Street. It’s a quick two minute walk west from the Brewery District Streetcar Station in front of Rhinegeist. They also have a second entrance at 1820 Central Parkway that leads to the upstairs bottle shop. While we encourage public transit, there is a two level parking garage just north at 1916 Central Parkway available for customers!

iNTERIOR BAR AT otr STILLHOUSE.

Words cannot do justice for the OTR StillHouse, so we urge you to check it out for yourself. They open this coming Saturday, December 18th for brunch at 11am, followed by live music and a DJ set to close out the night. If you can’t make it, you’ll have plenty of time to visit before our home opener on Saturday, March 5.

You can find out more about the OTR StillHouse by following them on Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram. You can also find their website at https://otrstillhouse.com/

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THANK YOU TO SAM ADAMS

We are extremely grateful to Sam Adams for hosting us in 2021. After being stuck in a difficult situation leading into the season, they were quick to offer us a place to meet before home matches. Their staff was excellent all season, too. It would have been easier to leave Sam Adams if the people there weren’t so great to us. Unfortunately, we didn’t feel that Sam Adams could be our permanent home, so we made the decision to move in the off-season. We look forward to working with them in some capacity in the future, and hope you continue to support the folks there.

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AWAY DAYS AT MECKS

While we are moving our home matches to OTR StillHouse, we will keep our away watch parties at Mecklenburg Gardens. Our first watch party will be Saturday, February 26 against Colombus SC Austin FC. We’ll have a special watch party planned for that game, so stay tuned early next year for more developments!

Welcome to the West End Stadium!

It’s finally here! We’ll be watching soccer at the brand new West End Stadium this Sunday, May 16! This will be the first home match in front of fans since a 1-1 draw against Orlando City on September 29, 2019. That’s 595 days between an in-person match for most of us.

We’re thrilled to join everyone for this historic day, and wanted to introduce you to our home for the beginning of the season.

As we announced at the start of the season, we’ll be starting out at the Sam Adams Taproom in Over-the-Rhine until our permanent home is ready for us (detail to come, we promise). They’re going to be great partners as we get acclimated to our new home in the West End.

About Sam Adams

Despite the name Sam Adams and their flagship Boston Lager, the company has strong roots in Cincinnati. Founder Jim Koch was born here and the Boston Lager was his Great-Great-Grandfather’s recipe. In 1997 he purchased the historic Hudepohl-Schoenling brewery on Central Parkway, just one block from the new stadium, which became the company’s main production facility.

Outdoor Patio at Sam Adams taproom.

The new Sam Adams Taproom in Cincinnati is their first location outside of the Boston Area, and opened in November 2018. The Taproom features both nationwide staples like the Boston Lager and unique seasonal beers that are exclusive to the Cincinnati Taproom. They will also have light bites like giant pretzels and beer cheese. If you are looking for something more filling, there are plenty of food options nearby and you are allowed to bring food into Sam Adams.

The Taproom is located one block west of Findlay Market at 1727 Logan Street. Parking is going to be challenging in this area of Over-the-Rhine. We recommend carpools, public transit, biking, etc over driving down yourself. We have done our best to provide a map of available parking in the area, as well as an outline of the Cincinnati Streetcar. The streetcar is 100% free to ride, and operates from 9:30am-9:30pm on Sundays. If you get down early, you can park closer to downtown and take the streetcar north to Sam Adams.

Home Opener

The Home Opener is scheduled for 4pm. We’ll be starting the day at 11am. If you are coming to the taproom, we highly recommend getting there early. We expect to be at capacity well before we depart for the march, so if you want to get a few drinks with us, get there early.

Our merch table will be up and running. You can order your membership online and select 5/16/21 as your pickup date, or you can order your membership in person when you arrive (credit or cash). Again, if you want to make sure to get in the door, get there early.

The merch table will close down at 2:15 as we prepare for the march. We plan on leaving Sam Adams at 2:30 for the march. If you do not plan on being a part of the inaugural march to the stadium, you are welcome to stay a little longer. We want to give people time to walk around the stadium and explore things before getting to your seat. You can see full details of the march by visiting the Incline Collective’s website at www.inclinecincy.com.

Masks will be required for entry and any time you get up from your seat.

We’ll have full access to the indoor taproom as well as the spacious patio on the north end of the building. Once capacity is reached, we will be at a one-in-one-out situation. Please be courteous to staff, and understand that things are not 100% normal yet. And again, get there early.

General Info

We will be at Sam Adams Taproom for at least the first three home matches (May 16, May 29, and June 19). We will keep everyone posted about our future matchday plans as we get closer to them.

We will have a Facebook Event set up for every home match as we get closer to them. View our Facebook Events here. We will do our best to update everyone on social media (Facebook Event page, Twitter, and Slack) if any plans change. Keep an eye out for communication from us and The Incline Collective.

We would also like to reiterate that we are visitors in these neighborhoods, and we want everyone to be respectful of the people who live here. Please don’t bring alcohol on the march, and follow all directions from capos, SG leaders, and stadium staff. We want this to run as smoothly as possible, and ask everyone to be patient as we work out any kinks.

If you want to go somewhere to watch the match and don’t have a ticket to the game, we highly recommend our friends at Mecklenburg Gardens or rhinehaus.

See you on Sunday. And as always, Juncta Juvant!

2021 Game Day Info!

With the season starting in four weeks, and the home opener just 8 weeks away, we are finalizing our plans for the away watch parties and the home pregame events.

Away Matches

As we announced last year, we are going to be watching our away matches at Mecklenburg Gardens. They have been terrific partners since 2016, and have implemented a good social distancing initiative in the beer hall.

Because we are still in the middle of a global pandemic, we are going to require reservations into the beer hall to watch the matches until further notice. There will be a limited number of seats at each table, and each table will be appropriately spaced apart.

We are confident that we can do this safely with your cooperation. Masks will be required when you aren't sitting down at your table. The beer garden and bar room will not require reservations if you want to grab a liter and hang out there.

Our biggest concern is ensuring that this is a safe environment. We also want you to know that you’ll have a seat when you make the effort to come to Mecklenburg Gardens to watch a game, and don’t get turned away because of capacity. The reservation for a seat in the beer hall will be just $5. That reservation will guarantee you a seat in the beer hall and all of the money will go to a community partner we will announce with the reservation process. We will be sending out the info for reservations on slack and in an email in the next week or two so you can guarantee your spot for the season opener! This is not meant to keep people out of our away watch parties, but is meant to ensure we can accommodate as many people as safely possible while not turning away people at the door when it reaches capacity. We’ll have exact details about the process when we open up reservations, so stay tuned!

Home Matches

The coronavirus really threw a wrench into our original plans we finalized over a year ago. As many have heard, we were planning on meeting at the Christian Moerlein Malt House in Over-the-Rhine. The space is enormous, and they do great work supporting the community through Bockfest and the Brewery District. Unfortunately, the Malt House was closed during the pandemic, and after several months they decided they would not be reopening there. They were very generous in offering to allow us to use the space still, but too many unknowns existed for us to pull the trigger on that space.

We're very fortunate to have found two great spots to meet at in very short notice. Both meet the size requirements and many of the amenities we desired.

At this point, we cannot announce the permanent home for Die Innenstadt. They are planning on announcing their firm opening date in the coming weeks, and we're giving them the time to announce it the way they want to. So for the time being, we'll have to keep being patient, but we promise it's worth the wait! They are targeting a mid May or early June opening, so when they are ready for us to do so, we will announce it.

Today we can announce our home for the home opener, and we're very excited to work with them!

For the home opener at West End Stadium, we will be meeting at the Sam Adams Taproom at 1727 Logan Street, just one block west of Findlay Market! They have been excellent to work with, and we hope to partner with them in some capacity after the new permanent home bar location is opened.

Sam Adams boasts a large outdoor courtyard and spacious interior that will be excellent for our home opener during social distancing. They have beers unique to Cincinnati, and are only a couple blocks from the new stadium.

As we get closer to the home opener, we will outline parking locations, transit connections, food options, and more for our stay at Sam Adams. When the full schedule is announced we will have a better idea of how many additional games we may be meeting at Sam Adams, and keep you informed along the way.

We're excited to see everyone again this year after over 12 months apart. Keep in mind that we are still in the middle of a pandemic. All of our events will require masks. While we are not requiring vaccines to attend our events, we are strongly encouraging all of our members to sign up for their covid vaccine as soon as possible to stop the spread.

Juncta Juvant!

2021 Memberships Available

Finally, in case you missed it, our 2021 Die Innenstadt scarves were revealed last week! If you want to become a member of Die Innenstadt, head over to our store and purchase your membership today!

Let Them Play

We support the MLS Players Association as they continue to work with Major League Soccer on a revised CBA. #LetThemPlay2021

MLS is Back And So Are We! (Virtually)

The MLS is Back tournament kicks off in just a few days, and we would like to take this opportunity to share the outline of our plan for supporting the team throughout the tournament. Obviously we wish we were back at Nippert with you all, not to mention how much we wish we could throw back a couple liters at Mecklenburg Gardens with everyone. But the reality of the situation is that we are still in the middle of a global pandemic with cases continuing to rise. We are hopeful that we will still get the opportunity to gather in person this season, but for now we want to stay on the side of caution and safety and keep our members safe and healthy.

MLS is Back Tournament

We met with Mecklenburg Gardens a few weeks ago and we are thankful with the changes they made to ensure everyone is social distancing and safe. They will be open for the match against Columbus on July 11 at 10:30pm, and also the match against New York Red Bulls on July 22 at 8pm. They are also offering takeout if that’s what you prefer. We are not planning to meet as a group in any official capacity, but if you personally feel comfortable with going out, they will be showing the matches in the Bier Hall. Here we’ve outlined the steps they are taking to keep their customers safe. Please be respectful of the rules and regulations that they are implementing for the benefit of all of their customers. 

• All tables are six feet apart, and the bar has six-feet spacers for forming lines. We encourage all guests to remain six feet apart from others when possible.

• Hand sanitizer stations are located throughout the building.

• Table service is available for those who prefer it.

• We encourage all guests to remain seated when possible, and partake in table service to reduce movement.

• Any object a guest touches (menu, salt shaker, etc.) is sanitized before given to another guest. 

• All staff members will be wearing proper PPE including masks.

• Please bring a mask with you and wear it any time you get up from your table and when you enter and leave

• Bier Hall capacity is 100 people, and seating will be awarded first come, first serve.

• Biergarten and Main Dining Room seating is available to those who prefer to be more distanced; however we do not have televisions in these areas. (Guests may bring their laptops or phones and use our wifi to stream games).

All of this in consideration, we still encourage our members to continue to social distance and watch the matches from home. We won’t be selling memberships at Mecklenburg Gardens during these matches. Memberships are still available to order over at our store and we have begun shipping orders out again this week. We will be hosting a Zoom (chaos) call during each match so that we can all hang out and cheer on our team together. We have a 100 person limit so get in the call quick if you want to participate! Check the #gameday channel for the link to the zoom meeting. If you would like a Mecklenburg Gardens virtual background, you can go here to download one! In the spirit of more game day participation, we have planned out a theme for each match. Keep an eye on our Twitter, Instagram, and Facebook for more details on how to participate via social media. We will be picking our favorite post for each match/theme and that person will win some DI swag. 

• Saturday July 11 vs Columbus Crew: Present your meatiest (or meatless) grill creations for our match against “Flavortown SC” #FlavortownSC

• Thursday July 16 vs Atlanta United: Show us your best breakfast spread to kickstart your morning! #BreakfastWithDI

• Wednesday July 22 vs New York Red Bulls: Show us what local brew you are drinking and crush those empty cans. #CrushThemCans

The Future

We do not know what the league’s plans are following this tournament, but whatever they decide to do we will support in a way that protects the safety and health of our members. We are committed to following the guidance set forth by the CDC, WHO, State of Ohio, and City of Cincinnati for any events we might host.

Stay safe & Juncta Juvant!

The DI Board

Coronavirus Postpones MLS Season

MLS has announced that the season has been postponed for at least 30 days due to the COVID-19 (coronavirus) pandemic. Obviously, this means the home opener this weekend will not happen.

We understand this is a difficult decision for everyone involved, but the safety of the fans, players, and staff is of the utmost importance.

For more information on COVID-19, and what you can do to protect yourself, please visit the World Health Organization's page and the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention page. Thoroughly wash your hands regularly, avoid large public gatherings, and look out for the elderly and those with compromised immune systems. 

To protect the most vulnerable in the population, a ban of mass gatherings is one of the most effective things cities and states can do. This is bound to be frustrating to those who think everything is largely normal, but community spread of a virus like this can happen rapidly, and these measures will slow down the spread and minimize the number of people impacted. Lives are at risk, and we applaud the decision to postpone events by all sports leagues.

We are working with the team to make sure fans aren't left with unused tickets when makeup dates are announced. We want to be sure that our members are protected from any financial burden as well as any health complications this disease will have.

This will affect multiple game days - home and away. Any postponed matches will be communicated as soon as we know more. For now, all games for the next 30 days will be postponed until dates TBD. We will also follow any guidance set forth by the CDC, WHO, State of Ohio, and City of Cincinnati for any events we would host.

Look out for each other. And as always, Juncta Juvant!