Berding became interested in sports at an early age and played basketball, baseball, and soccer in school.

[2][3] 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.

[2] He left his position as Director of Sales & Public Affairs in July 2015 to found the new soccer club FC Cincinnati.

[4] 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.

[6] In October 2017, Berding spoke at a Hamilton County Commissioners public 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.

[citation needed] In September 2016, the Ohio Valley Chapter of the National Multiple Sclerosis Society named Jeff Berding that year's recipient of the Silver Hope Award.