Chicago Fire Founding General Manager and longtime President Peter Wilt is the team’s Managing Partner, President and CEO. Application to join NISA was announced September 10, 2020 and approved in October, 2020.

“Chicago Athletic Club”, was one of the names that was suggested by fans, but eliminated in the Elite Eight round of voting, This ultimately made a comeback as an addition to “Chicago House.” As an important part of the club’s brand, Chicago House AC plans to add affiliated teams in a variety of sports to become a true Athletic Club in the image of professional Athletic Clubs around the world such as Atlético de Madrid, Club Atlético River Plate and FC Barcelona.

True athletic clubs structured with multiple sports teams competing alongside a parent soccer or football club are common in Europe and Latin America. Chicago House AC plans to align ourselves with individual, recreational, competitive, esports and parasports teams to make the “House” a true athletic club. We will work with the public to identify appropriate sports as well as teams that share our values and extend the Chicago House AC mission throughout Chicagoland.

The team is owned by a group of local, national and international investors who provide a broad base of support and resources. Among them is Laurence Girard, PTO of New Amsterdam FC, who has organized a group of angel investors to support both clubs. Local Chicago investors are being vetted to join as well and Chicago House Athletic Club is also working with the public to consider adding a public fan component to its investor group.

Yes! And we want you to! HB 3429, which became law on January 1st, 2016, allows any Illinois resident to invest up to $5,000 in a company providing a crowdfunded offering. We are currently working with fans and exploring how this law can allow the public to support the team with an investment that will earn them a share of equity in the team. The vision of Chicago House Athletic Club is to integrate fans into the fabric of the club’s culture through a supporters trust — this will serve to truly make this Chicago’s team

The club will play in the Midwest Premier League (MPL).

Benefit Corporations are a type of business that merge the traditional for-profit business corporation model with a non-profit model by allowing social entrepreneurs to consider interests beyond those of maximizing shareholder wealth. In Chicago House Athletic Club’s case those additional interests are transparency, employee and fan satisfaction, social justice, racial equality, diversity and community improvement. (Think Patagonia, Allbirds, Eileen Fisher, Ben & Jerry’s and more)

Chicago House Athletic Club is a public benefit corporation. This means, in addition to other considerations, we are committed to grassroots engagement across the diverse landscape of Chicagoland’s great communities. This includes working with appropriate amateur sports teams, cultural and social justice organizations and international groups to develop relationships that will mutually benefit the club and its community partners. The team will have a deeply positive impact on underserved neighborhoods through numerous initiatives that provide opportunities for educational programming, mentorship and safe places to play soccer and futsal for children in the city. We will also work inclusively with organizations to improve social justice, racial equality, diversity and community improvement.

The city of Chicago has one of the deepest histories of high level soccer in the United States, from pro league championship-winning teams of the Chicago Sting (1981,1984), Chicago Power (1991) and Chicago Fire (1998) and one of the oldest professional women’s soccer teams in the United States, the Chicago Red Stars, to their amateur predecessors, such as Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup winners the Chicago Bricklayers, Chicago Sparta, Chicago Viking and Chicago Falcons. Inspired by this history, Chicago’s new NISA team’s primary goal is to bring more glory to the Chicago soccer pantheon. Throughout our quest, we will continually work to honor the heritage of the amateurs and professionals who have built soccer in Chicago from the grassroots to the greatest levels of the game.