Jeff Berding was born on February 8, 1967, and 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 Cincinnati Bengals for 19 years, starting in 1996 after working on a sales tax 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 matches and breaking league records. In October 2017, Berding spoke at a Hamilton County Commissionerspublic 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 Major League Soccer as an expansion team succeed. FC Cincinnati was officially granted an 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 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 Cincinnati Bengals. He stayed on the council for two more months before officially resigning in March.
