A Message for Andrew Hauptman

Dear Mr. Hauptman,

In 2007, you bought the Chicago Fire Soccer Club, a team with a rich and storied history starting from its first season in Major League Soccer. With an MLS Cup championship, four US Open Cup championships and three CONCACAF Champions League appearances before 2007, the breeding club for US Soccer greats DaMarcus Beasley, Carlos Bocanegra and Josh Wolff, the Fire are known for excellence in every
facet of the game.

Since 2007, however, things have dried up. While teams like the LA Galaxy, New York Red Bulls, Sporting Kansas City and Seattle Sounders have racked up major success and big name stars, the Fire are languishing in the middle of the field, only squeaking into the playoffs once since 2009. Open Cup success has also dried up, with only 1 Open Cup finals appearance 2009, a loss to Seattle in 2011. And just this month, the Fire's undefeated streak in the State of Illinois was ended by DC United in a 2-0 loss.

During that game, fans made their displeasure known with this utter lack of success. Any good owner would not tolerate a showing like that. Unfortunately, Mr. Hauptman, you are not Rocky Wirtz, who is a good owner.

Two weeks after the loss, an editorial by Fire Director of Communications Dan Lobring appeared on the team's website. The editorial criticized fans who he claimed were misbehaving. While soccer fans are obviously not pariahs of good behavior, one can understand the frustrations of Section 8, the supporters group you so desperately need in order to succeed. Indeed, criticizing the fans who show up for every game does not sound like something Rocky Wirtz or Tom Ricketts would do.

You seem to think that you can control the message surrounding the Fire and your ownership when word of mouth from former employees say otherwise. Indeed, you can talk a good game about "consistency", but the Fire have gone through 4 Presidents since you have been here and we currently do not have a President.

And there's another problem. While Fire attendance is certainly impressive and I see quite a few fans in the seats while watching on TV, I hardly see any ads for upcoming home games outside of Fire telecasts. You don't even have a radio presence outside of Spanish radio and while Latinos are certainly passionate fans, you cannot rely only on them. This is similar to, but admittedly not the same as Bill Wirtz's refusal to put Blackhawks games on TV. While Chicago is certainly a saturated sports market, what with the Hawks, Bears, Bulls, Cubs and Sox, but you should be trying to make your mark.

And getting back to the attendance thing. While the Fire attendance is still relatively impressive, we are low in attendance numbers for a league that is seeing record attendance and profits. We can't be excellent if we keep losing seats, Mr Hauptman. In all fairness, I recognize some of that is beyond your control, but there needs to be some effort to communicate with the community.

Which, of course, brings us back to "The Editorial", as it's become known. While the media is staying mostly neutral on it, a few bloggers are not. Quite frankly, Mr. Lobring didn't make any friends with that editorial. Critics are saying that it's a meandering wreck, especially when it doesn't specifically say what the supporters did or said that caused offense. One fan mentioned that he simply called out for you to spend some money to buy someone who can score. What's wrong with that?

If anything, this simply shows what a mess the Fire have become. There might not even be playoff soccer for the third time in four years. Why should fans be satisfied with that? To me, Mr. Hauptman, you seem to consider the Fire a mere 'investment'.

Football and soccer clubs are not mere investments. You remember the "Love United, Hate Glazer" protests over Malcolm Glazer's ownership of Manchester United? No? Fans overseas will chant and hurl obscenities at owners who they feel are not doing their job and spending money. You appear to be taking the fact that American supporters are relatively well-behaved for granted. A few people shouting for you to do your job is not... whatever Mr. Lobring was trying to get at.

It doesn't have to be this way, Mr. Hauptman. All you have to do is move to Chicago, start talking to supporters, start spending money and start winning. That's how Rockey Wirtz was able to revitalize the Blackhawks. See how successful they've become? The Fire can make a dent in Chicago. All you have to do is follow Rocky's lead.

Mr. Hauptman, I am a Fire fan, and I have been so since they were founded back in 1997, when I was just 10 years old. I remember hearing that they were the first team other than DC United to win the MLS Cup and I was excited. I even went to go see the Fire take on Manchester United and I backed the Fire during that match. I love this team, Mr. Hauptman. This is not some "investment", this is a part of the community, a part of Chicago itself. I want to see them win, but so long as you're not doing anything to fix this problem, the criticism will keep coming and it will get louder. Don't say I didn't warn you.