Menu
Franchises

MLS' Don Garber Encouraged Joe Manseuto To Purchase Fire

The Fire will move to downtown Chicago next season when they begin playing home games at Soldier FieldGETTY IMAGES

MLS Commissioner Don Garber "helped steer" new Fire Owner Joe Mansueto to buy up the remaining 51% stake in the club from Andrew Hauptman, according to Jeremy Mikula of the CHICAGO TRIBUNE. Mansueto, who purchased 49% of the Fire in '18, said Hauptman originally "didn’t want to sell the whole team, he wanted to sell 49%." Mansueto: "I had to make a decision: Do I want to buy 100% of a team maybe outside of Chicago or half of a team in my hometown? I opted for the latter and I’m really glad I did.” Mansueto said he “looked at a few other cities” for potential investment. But Garber said that the league has "seen success with two things: A downtown stadium and local ownership." In Chicago, that downtown stadium is "coming as the Fire edge closer to returning to Soldier Field" starting in '20, something Mansueto has "worked on since last year." On the potential rebrand of the club's name and crest, Mansueto said, "I love the name. To me the name has pretty deep meaning for Chicagoans that cuts to the core of the identity of this city" (CHICAGO TRIBUNE, 9/17).

FACILITY FOCUS: In Chicago, Brian Sandalow notes Mansueto is "focusing on making the game-day experience at Soldier Field as strong as possible." Finding a soccer-specific stadium "isn’t his priority." Mansueto said that he has "high hopes for the new home." He added, "I’d rather have more people exposed to the team than fewer.’’ The Fire’s local broadcasts have been "exclusively on ESPN+," but that deal "runs out" after the '20 season. Mansueto said that he "expects a lot of media outlets to bid for Fire games when it lapses" (CHICAGO SUN-TIMES, 9/17). Mansueto said, "I would like to see the Fire more widely available to all Chicagoans either on free broadcast or cable to complement ESPN+. I think we've got a great product in the Fire, but more people need to see it. We need to expose them to it" (CHICAGOBUSINESS.com, 9/16).

SBJ Morning Buzzcast: March 25, 2024

NFL meeting preview; MLB's opening week ad effort and remembering Peter Angelos.

Big Get Jay Wright, March Madness is upon us and ESPN locks up CFP

On this week’s pod, our Big Get is CBS Sports college basketball analyst Jay Wright. The NCAA Championship-winning coach shares his insight with SBJ’s Austin Karp on key hoops issues and why being well dressed is an important part of his success. Also on the show, Poynter Institute senior writer Tom Jones shares who he has up and who is down in sports media. Later, SBJ’s Ben Portnoy talks the latest on ESPN’s CFP extension and who CBS, TNT Sports and ESPN need to make deep runs in the men’s and women's NCAA basketball tournaments.

SBJ I Factor: Nana-Yaw Asamoah

SBJ I Factor features an interview with AMB Sports and Entertainment Chief Commercial Office Nana-Yaw Asamoah. Asamoah, who moved over to AMBSE last year after 14 years at the NFL, talks with SBJ’s Ben Fischer about how his role model parents and older sisters pushed him to shrive, how the power of lifelong learning fuels successful people, and why AMBSE was an opportunity he could not pass up. Asamoah is 2021 SBJ Forty Under 40 honoree. SBJ I Factor is a monthly podcast offering interviews with sports executives who have been recipients of one of the magazine’s awards.

Shareable URL copied to clipboard!

https://www.sportsbusinessjournal.com/Daily/Issues/2019/09/17/Franchises/Fire.aspx

Sorry, something went wrong with the copy but here is the link for you.

https://www.sportsbusinessjournal.com/Daily/Issues/2019/09/17/Franchises/Fire.aspx

CLOSE