Nearly a year after buying 49 percent in the Chicago Fire, Parker parent Joe Mansueto has decided to go all-in on the Men in Red. 

In July 2018, Mansueto purchased 49 percent of the Chicago Fire. With this purchase, Mansueto became the first new investor in the Fire since Andrew Hauptman’s purchase of the team in 2007. “Joe brings a passion for soccer and cares deeply about the city of Chicago,” Hauptman said in an introductory press conference. 

Since 2007, Hauptman significantly increased the reach of the Fire and the general sport of soccer in the Chicagoland area. One of Hauptman’s major initiatives to increase the Fire’s reach was the construction of the CIBC Fire Pitch. Located on the North Side of Chicago, the CIBC Fire Pitch is a year-round soccer facility that hosts youth and recreational soccer programs. With increased programs, the hope is to create more youth engagement in soccer with increased programs. With the intention to add on to Hauptman’s achievements, Mansueto deemed the Chicago Fire a worthy investment. 

Although Mansueto is deeply invested in popularizing soccer in the United States, he does not see soccer as the only sport beneficial for youth development. “While I love soccer, I am a fan of most sports for kids,” Mansueto said. “If a kid enjoys a particular sport, that’s the key thing. They’ll play it regularly, have fun, and get exercise. ‘A sound mind in a sound body’ as Aristotle described an ideal education.” 

When asked about why Parker embraces soccer over a more common high school sports like football, Mansueto shared his opinion that “soccer does have an advantage over football in having far fewer injuries. American football can be too violent for my tastes.  So I’m happy Parker embraces soccer.”

In September 2019, Hauptman sold his 51 percent stake to Mansueto, giving Mansueto full control of the Chicago soccer club. As Mansueto enters as the sole chairman, the Fire are finishing another disappointing season. For the third time in four seasons, the Fire were eliminated from the playoffs. Despite playing in the third-largest U.S. market, the Fire are last in attendance, with an average of 11,926 fans per game. 

Mansueto believes moving the team from Bridgeview to Soldier Field will encourage soccer fans to root for their local Chicago team. “The focus right now is making Soldier Field work and making it work big time,” Mansueto said. “If you look at what’s going on around the league, Seattle, Portland, L.A., Atlanta, they fill up big stadiums with 50,000 to 60,000 soccer fans. Soldier Field has that potential, too. If we can make that match day experience great, we can fill Soldier Field. Look at recent soccer games in Soldier Field. Two Mexican clubs, Chivas and Club America, played and sold out Soldier Field. The United States men’s national team played Mexico in August and sold out Soldier Field. The soccer fans are here, and we could fill that stadium if we do it right.”

For the first time since 2002, the Chicago Fire will play at Soldier Field. After the team was founded in 1997, the Fire shared a home with the Chicago Bears at Soldier Field until 2002 when Soldier Field began a massive renovation. The result: the Chicago Fire had no home turf. The search for a new home turf took the Fire first to the western Chicago suburb of Naperville.  In 2006, the Fire moved to their own stadium, Toyota Park, at 71st and Harlem Avenue in Bridgeview. Toyota Park was renamed SeatGeek Stadium in 2018. Just before Mansueto’s purchase was announced, the Chicago Park District voted to allow the Fire to finalize a deal to move back to Soldier Field for the 2020 season. Mansueto’s first major announcement as the full owner of the team was that they would be returning home to Soldier Field. 

With this move to downtown Chicago, Mansueto says he has already seen an increase of enthusiasm from Parker. “I’ve had many people at Parker—students, teachers, and parents—tell me they’ll attend Fire games now that they are playing in Soldier Field,” Mansueto said. “It was a long trek to Bridgeview, so many people didn’t go to the games.  It was terrific that last year’s 8th-grade class went to an away Fire game on their Washington, D.C. trip.”

With total control of the team, Joe Mansueto has already made changes in the front office, including the dismissal of head coach Veljko Paunović. On Thursday, October 21, the Mansueto-led Fire unveiled a new logo for the club. While Mansueto has already started a physical rebrand, he says he will also focus on the cultural aspect of his new club as well. 

As a dedicated Parker parent of two current high schoolers and one graduate, Mansueto hopes to inject the Fire with Parker’s principles. “The Fire culture that I aspire to is very much aligned with Parker values,” Mansueto said. “Both organizations embrace respect for individuals, community, learning, working together, and constantly striving for excellence. I also see our club as progressive and we hope to be a model for other clubs around the world.”