Chicago Fire FC Appoints Businesswoman Glassman Chrein President

Chicago IL

20 May, 2021

4:47 PM

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CHICAGO — Chicago Fire FC announced the hiring of a new executive to oversee its business operations on Thursday when the club named businesswoman Ishwara Glassman Chrein as its new club president. Glassman Chrein fills the vacancy that was created when Nelson Rodriguez resigned earlier this year. She is believed to be only the fourth woman in Major League Soccer history to serve in the role of team president, the team said in a news release on Thursday. The new executive is not short on experience, namely in sports, and will join the Fire in June after serving as the head of sports partnerships and business development for Yahoo! Sports/Verizon Media. In that role, Glassman Chrein oversaw business relationships and negotiations with the NFL, NBA, Major League Baseball, BetMGM and NBC as well as other broadcasting and data streaming and gaming organizations, the club announced in a news release. "I am so thrilled to be joining the Fire at such an important inflection point in the Club's history," Glassman Chrein said in a statement issued by the team on Thursday. "I'm fortunate to join a team where the owner loves Chicago, cares deeply about the players and staff, and is fully invested in building a successful team on and off the pitch." In addition to her other duties with Yahoo! Sports/Verizon, Glassman Chrein also oversaw gaming strategy, evaluated global naming rights acquisition deals and also worked with sports technology start-up groups. The Columbia University magna cum laude graduate (economics and political science) also worked for nine years with WME IMG Sports, where she served as the senior vice president and global head of sales operations and strategic planning. Glassman Chrein was a 2020 recipient of the Sports Business Journal's Forty Under 40 award. She is a board member of the Business of Sports School, a New York City public school with an underserved student body, and speaks frequently at conferences and universities, the team said. Glassman Chrein and Sporting Director Georg Heitz will both report directly to Fire FC owner and chairman Joe Mansueto. "In Ishwara, we have found a dynamic, experienced sports executive to head up our business operations," Mansueto said in a news release. "She is a passionate and enthusiastic leader that has a proven track record of building businesses and increasing revenue. We believe that she can significantly grow our fanbase and be a strong ambassador for the Club throughout Chicagoland."