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