Joe Mansueto: “The potential for the Chicago Fire in this market is enormous.”
The Fire’s owner lays out his vision for the future of the club to Hot Time in Old Town
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“When your kids start playing, it kind of becomes addictive,” the Chicago Fire owner tells
Hot Time. “You love watching your kids, you start loving the sport, you start watching it professionally on television, that takes it to another level.
“I just think soccer has a great future,” Mansueto continues. “I think, unlike a lot of the other sports, which could be a three, four hour investment of time, soccer is 90-minutes of non-stop action. It’s a blast. To watch a game you’re on the edge of your seat the whole game, the time goes by, like that. And it’s a great sporting experience.”
Mansueto shoulders the blame for the Chicago Fire’s logo failure: “I was certainly responsible.”
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There’s an idea among many Chicago Fire fans that the unpopular “Fire Crown” crest, which is going away later this year, was thrust upon owner Joe Mansueto by the club’s previous majority owner, Andrew Hauptman, on his way out the door.
It’s easy to see why. Since Mansueto assumed full control of the club from Hauptman in 2019, the Fire have hit a number of home runs. The marketing and media content has been exceptionally good. The club went from being off local TV entirely, to having a deal with WGN to air matches. Although the team only won five games in 2020, the club’s sporting department, led by Georg Heitz, has a clear direction and a stated goal of bringing in and developing young players from all over the world. And, perhaps most notably, Mansueto got the team out of its lease with the Village of Bridgeview, and moved matches
Before Joe Biden s inauguration, a look at how the political event has developed into a cultural touchstone over the years Joe Biden’s inauguration will feature Tom Hanks, Justin Timberlake and Jon Bon Jovi but remotely. The transfer of presidential power in the US has always been a signature political event. However, Biden s inauguration will be different by necessity, in an age of illness and threats.
So many people thronged President Andrew Jackson’s inaugural reception that he was said to have escaped the White House through a window. President John F Kennedy enlisted a Rat Pack friend, Frank Sinatra, to arrange the entertainment when he took office. And, well, the Obamas danced to Beyoncé.
Inaugurations have long mirrored the nation’s cultural life. Joe Biden’s will feature Tom Hanks, Justin Timberlake and Jon Bon Jovi remotely, in an age of illness and threats.
Looking back at some of our favorite Chicago Fire stories from 2020
It was an odd year, to say the least
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Back in February, when COVID-19 started to look more and more serious, I had a conversation with a Chicago Fire staffer about whether the league would consider holding games without fans.
We both agreed that idea seemed absolutely crazy. Football without fans? How would that even work?
On the morning of March 11, I visited SeatGeek Stadium to cover the day’s training session. Luka Stojanović and Boris Sekulić had just gotten to Chicago a few days prior, and it was my first look at what was essentially the entire 2020 team. By then, elbow bumps had replaced handshakes, and there was growing uncertainty about what would happen going forward. But, there was still little doubt the Fire would be traveling to Florida to play Orlando City that weekend.