University of Cincinnati
11/04/2025 | Press release | Distributed by Public on 11/04/2025 08:17
Scoring big with FC Cincinnati’s Jeff Berding
Scoring big with FC Cincinnati's Jeff Berding
Highlights from UC 1819 Founders+Funders sports summit
By Diana M Lara Email Diana M Email Diana M
8 minute read November 4, 2025 Share on facebook Share on Twitter Share on LinkedIn Share on Reddit Print StoryLike
FC Cincinnati president and co-CEO Jeff Berding energized a packed audience at the University of Cincinnati's 1819 Innovation Hub during this year's Founders+Funders Summit, where he shared lessons in cultivating leadership skills, developing a growth mindset and achieving innovation in sports entrepreneurship.
Berding was welcomed into the venue with great fanfare, led by two UC marching band drummers and cheers from attendees.
Ryan Hays, executive vice president and chief innovation and strategy officer at UC's 1819 Innovation Hub, welcomed the group, sharing what the hub is, what it does and why it matters. "1819 is three things," Hays said. "It's UC's front door to industry and innovation. It's the headquarters of the Cincinnati Innovation District - basically the 65 acres you see when you look out the atrium - and we move at the speed of need. We take our partners and connect them to the full range of capabilities across campus. That's what we do."
Photos from left to right: UC Marching Band drummers. Photo/Mia Rohrer. Jeff Berding with Phil Collins. Photo/Kori Moore.
Scoring big with FC Cincinnati's Jeff Berding
Phil Collins interviews childhood friend, Jeff Berding. Photo/Greg Glevicky.
Next, it was time for the event's guest of honor to chat with Phil Collins, former UC Board of Trustees chair and founder of Orchard Holdings Group. "It's really fun for me to be here to introduce my friend, Jeff Berding," Collins said as he took attendees back to St. Xavier High School, where he and Berding became friends. He asked Berding to look back on those years growing up in Cincinnati and share which people or perspectives stuck with him the most in terms of growth and development.
Berding shared that he grew up in a family of 10 kids that didn't have a lot of money to play sports. "But for me, I had coaches and teachers in middle school that saw something bigger in me than I certainly would have ever seen in myself," he said. "They encouraged me to go to St. X High School, and there, the brotherhood of being educated but also serving, servant leadership - which is among the mantras of the Jesuits - that was very fundamental."
He was the first Berding to go to college and had to figure out how to pay his own way for his degrees in diplomacy, foreign affairs and the Russian language. Out of college, he worked for former Ohio Gov. Dick Celeste and then-U.S. Sen. John Glenn, thinking he "was going to be a diplomat and change the world."
You have to get the right people on the bus. And sometimes, that means knowing when to let someone off. Culture and mindset drive everything.
Jeff Berding, FC Cincinnati President
Berding did, in fact, make an impact in politics as a member of the Cincinnati City Council, starting him on a path that would lead to the Cincinnati Bengals. While working downtown and going to school to obtain his MBA, Berding was approached with an opportunity to write a campaign plan for a sales tax initiative to keep the Bengals in Cincinnati in 1996.
The plan was a success, funding the construction of Paul Brown Stadium. And the rest, as they say, is history. Berding spent nearly 20 years with the team in an executive position and says it prepared him to become the co-founder and president of FC Cincinnati.
Berding reflected on his journey from being a first-time team owner to leading FC Cincinnati into Major League Soccer. He emphasized the importance of a growth mindset, building the right team and navigating tough leadership decisions.
"You have to get the right people on the bus," Berding said. "And sometimes, that means knowing when to let someone off. Culture and mindset drive everything."
Other players step onto the field
Photos from left to right: John Cunningham, Athletic Director, UC Athletics, Photo/Alex Pearks; Tom Gelehrter, President & Founder, 4th Floor Creative and Nate Thompson, Founder, HTX Sports, Photo/Kori Moore
Panelists: The Future of Sports Design from left to right: Stephanie Pilat, Dean of the DAAP; Bruce Miller, Populous CEO; Amy Lucas, Founder of Infinite Scale; Geoff Baldwin, founder of Win Win Athletics. Photo/Greg Glevicky.
In addition to Berding, several other accomplished sports leaders spoke at Founders+Funders, including Bruce Miller, CEO of athletic design firm Populous, and John Cunningham, director of UC Athletics.
Panel sessions following Berding's fireside chat:
- The Future of Sports Design
- Sports and Entrepreneurship
- Disrupt or Die: Inside the Business of College Athletics
In the first panel, Miller - who graduated from UC's College of Design, Architecture, Art, and Planning in 1988 - said his experience as a Bearcat for Life taught him the resilience and perseverance to become the CEO of Populous. "My career is literally failure; trial and error, picking myself up and keeping on trying," he says. "That's literally how I got into [UC], it's how I left the school and it's been everything since."
From left to right: John Cunningham, Athletic Director of UC Athletics, discusses the business of sports with panelists, Maggie McKinley, Deputy Director, UC Athletics; John Daniel, Sr. Deputy Athletic Director and Ryan Holmes, President Cincy Sports Partners, Executive Sr. Associate Athletic Director, UC Athletics. Photo/Alex Pearks.
The second panel of the day focused on how athletes' competitive mindset translates favorably into the world of entrepreneurship. Successful businesspeople skilled in concepts such as technology, brand development, scaling and community impact outlined how their sports experiences contributed to present business successes.
In the final panel, Cunningham broke down how dramatic changes in college sports - from name, image and likeness to media rights and conference realignments - have created an entrepreneurial mindset at UC Athletics. "It's been an absolutely wild time [in college sports]," Cunningham said. "When you think of entrepreneurship - having to pivot, having to change course, having to start over, having to scrap previous plans - we've done all of that in the past three or four years."
Venture Lab graduates shine
Photos from left to right: Saturn Sports founders: Braden Shepard and Hank Veeneman; Meteora3D founder: Prashanth Ravi and Jake Harrington; Band Connect founder: Abby McInturf. Photos/Brennen Rottmueller
- Saturn Sports is focused on improving helmet safety in football and other sports to reduce traumatic brain injuries. The startup just scored $200,000 in funding from the Ohio Third Frontier Commission.
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Meteora3D develops ultra-fast, patient-specific 3D-printed anatomical models for surgical planning. The company was previously featured on Local 12 News.
- Band Connect is a hybrid therapy platform for orthopedic rehab that helps providers and their patients improve clinical and financial outcomes. It was recently named one of the finalists for the Cincinnati Business Courier's 2025 Fire Awards.
Photos from left to right: Veiss Founder:Devansh Saxena and Gokul Reghunath, Woove Founder: Gavin Weiss, Motiv Founder: Noelle Scheper and Wes Disbro. Photos/Brennen Rottmueller
- Veiss is focused on developing fitness technology that can automatically track a user's gym workouts by analyzing their movements.
- Woove is a 3D-printed footwear company that builds shoes for performance, precision and circular design. Weiss, the startup's founder, was recently honored on the Cincy Inno Under 25 list.
- Motiv is an app designed to help high schools manage sports teams by centralizing communication and administrative features. The company was recently featured on Fox19 News.
The Founders+Funders 2025 Summit was a powerful reminder of how integral the 1819 ecosystem is to Cincinnati. As the Center for the Silicon Heartland, the 1819 Innovation Hub and its surrounding Cincinnati Innovation District are the ideal setting for top students, startups and thought leaders like Berding to collide under one roof.
Cover image: Jeff Berding and Phil Collins. Photo/Greg Glevicky
Innovation Lives Here
The University of Cincinnati is leading public urban universities into a new era of innovation and impact. Our faculty, staff and students are saving lives, changing outcomes and bending the future in our city's direction. Next Lives Here.
Tags
- 1819 Innovation Hub
- College of Design, Architecture, Art, and Planning
- Cincinnati Innovation District
- Next Lives Here
- Venture Lab
- Athletics
- Entrepreneurship Venture Creation
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