Expansion Major League Soccer franchise FC Cincinnati has signed a new Official Partner deal with local restaurant chain Skyline Chili.
In a four-year deal from 2019 to 2022, Skyline Chili will become the club’s Official Chili Partner.
As part of the deal, Skyline Chili will get in-stadia branding, concession stand space, local broadcast inventory and digital media integration rights.
The Skyline Chili chain is based in Cincinnati. “Bring up the subject of chili to anyone in Cincinnati and Skyline immediately comes to mind,” Vince Cicero, FC Cincinnati senior vice-president of partnerships and broadcasting, said.
The next time Cincinnati takes to the field will be as MLS’s 24th team in March 2019, when the club debuts in the top professional league in the US and Canada.
The MLS expansion will grow the league to 28 teams, and possibly more, in the coming years. After Cincinnati, the league has approved Nashville (2020), Miami (2020) and Austin (no later than 2021).
The 28th expansion franchise will be decided in the next 12 months.