Peter Wilt is a

soccer Association football, more commonly known as football or soccer, is a team sport played between two teams of 11 players who primarily use their feet to propel the ball around a rectangular field called a pitch. The objective of the game is ...

executive who was the first President and General Manager of the Chicago Fire in

Major League Soccer Major League Soccer (MLS) is a men's professional soccer league sanctioned by the United States Soccer Federation, which represents the sport's highest level in the United States. The league comprises 29 teams—26 in the U.S. and 3 in Canada ...

, led an effort to bring an expansion MLS franchise to

Milwaukee, Wisconsin Milwaukee ( ), officially the City of Milwaukee, is both the most populous and most densely populated city in the U.S. state of Wisconsin and the county seat of Milwaukee County, Wisconsin, Milwaukee County. With a population of 577,222 at th ...

, and maintains strong connections to the sport of soccer in the

Midwest The Midwestern United States, also referred to as the Midwest or the American Midwest, is one of four Census Bureau Region, census regions of the United States Census Bureau (also known as "Region 2"). It occupies the northern central part of ...

, Chicago in particular. Wilt is most known for his work with the Chicago Fire, where he gained a reputation for being a fan-friendly businessman in the soccer world.

History

Peter Wilt was born in

McHenry, Illinois McHenry is a city in McHenry County, Illinois, United States. It is a suburb, part of the Chicago metropolitan area and is located about 37 miles northwest of Chicago. Per the 2020 census, the population was 27,135. McHenry was at one time th ...

, and gained his start in sports working for the

Milwaukee Brewers The Milwaukee Brewers are an American professional baseball team based in Milwaukee. They compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (NL) National League Central, Central division. The Brewers are named for t ...

baseball and

Milwaukee Admirals The Milwaukee Admirals are a professional ice hockey team in the American Hockey League (AHL). They play in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, United States, at the University of Wisconsin–Milwaukee Panther Arena. They are affiliated with the NHL's Nashvil ...

hockey teams before breaking into soccer with the

Milwaukee Wave The Milwaukee Wave is an American professional indoor soccer team based in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. Founded in 1984, they have been the oldest continuously operating professional soccer team in the United States and are seven-time league champions, m ...

. Wilt was known for answering questions from fans through the BigSoccer Internet message boards, and now maintains his own blog on Chicago soccer issues. In his seven seasons as Chicago's GM, the Fire won one

MLS Cup The MLS Cup is the annual championship game of Major League Soccer (MLS) and the culmination of the MLS Cup Playoffs. The game is held in November and pits the winner of the Eastern Conference Final against the winner of the Western Conference ...

, three U.S. Open Cups and one

Supporters' Shield The Supporters' Shield is an annual award given to the Major League Soccer team with the best regular season record, as determined by the MLS points system. The Supporters' Shield has been annually awarded at the MLS Supporters' Summit since 19 ...

. In 2005, Wilt was fired by

Anschutz Entertainment Group The Anschutz Entertainment Group (AEG), also known as AEG Worldwide, is an American global sporting and music entertainment presenter and a subsidiary of The Anschutz Corporation. It is the world's largest owner of sports teams and sports even ...

, the team's owner, a move which was protested by fans in Chicago. The following year, he became the chief executive officer of Milwaukee Professional Soccer (a group bidding to bring an MLS franchise to Milwaukee), but left the position to become CEO of the

Chicago Red Stars The Chicago Red Stars are a professional women's soccer club based in Bridgeview, Illinois, a suburb of Chicago. A founding member of the Women's Professional Soccer (WPS) league, they have played in the National Women's Soccer League (NWSL) sin ...

Chicago's

Women's Professional Soccer Women's Professional Soccer (WPS) was the top-level professional women's soccer league in the United States. It began play on March 29, 2009. The league was composed of seven teams for its first two seasons and fielded six teams for the 2011 sea ...

team that started play in 2009. After one season, Wilt left the Red Stars for a front office position with the Milwaukee Wave. After one season with the Wave, Wilt founded the now defunct expansion MISL side

Chicago Riot The Chicago Riot was an indoor soccer team that played in the Major Indoor Soccer League. They were based in Villa Park, Illinois, near Chicago, and they played their home games at the Odeum Expo Center. Namesake The team is named after the num ...

. In late 2012, Wilt led an effort with a group of

Indianapolis Indianapolis (), colloquially known as Indy, is the state capital and most populous city of the U.S. state of Indiana and the seat of Marion County. According to the U.S. Census Bureau, the consolidated population of Indianapolis and Marion ...

Indiana Indiana () is a U.S. state in the Midwestern United States. It is the 38th-largest by area and the 17th-most populous of the 50 States. Its capital and largest city is Indianapolis. Indiana was admitted to the United States as the 19th s ...

investors headed by Ersal Ozdemir to determine the viability of the market to support a

North American Soccer League The North American Soccer League may refer to: *North American Soccer League (1968–1984), a former Division I league *North American Soccer League (2011–2017) The North American Soccer League (NASL) was a professional men's soccer league b ...

team in the city with eventual hopes to join MLS. On January 16, 2013, the league awarded Indianapolis the league's twelfth franchise, naming Wilt the team President that day. The team, known as

Indy Eleven Indy Eleven is an American professional soccer team based in Indianapolis, Indiana. Founded in 2013, the team made its debut in the North American Soccer League in 2014, before moving to the United Soccer League in 2018. The franchise plays it ...

, began play in the 2014 season. In January 2016, Wilt stepped down from his role with the Indy 11 to pursue an NASL team in Chicago. He later announced that works were in progress to secure short-term and long-term stadium options combined with exploring investors and supporter ownership structures. On June 6, 2017, Wilt was announced that the newly formed

National Independent Soccer Association The National Independent Soccer Association (NISA) is a professional men's soccer league in the United States. The league is in the third tier of American soccer and began play in 2019. NISA initially used a fall-to-spring season format with a ...

would begin play in 2018 targeting an initial 8 to 10 teams, later revised to 8 to 12 teams. The league has also outlined plans to introduce a promotion/relegation system, once they reach their goal of 24 teams, the first in US professional soccer and in doing so act as a feeder league to the

. On May 17, 2018, Wilt left the NISA to help start up a future professional team in

Madison, Wisconsin Madison is the county seat of Dane County and the capital city of the U.S. state of Wisconsin. As of the 2020 census the population was 269,840, making it the second-largest city in Wisconsin by population, after Milwaukee, and the 80th-lar ...

of the

USL League One USL League One (USL1) is a professional men's soccer league in the United States that had its inaugural season in 2019. The Division III league is operated by United Soccer League, the same group that operates the Division II USL Championshi ...

, later named

Forward Madison FC Forward Madison FC is an American professional soccer team based in Madison, Wisconsin. The team was founded in 2018, and played its inaugural season in 2019. The team competes in the third division of the US soccer league system and plays the ...

. A committee of club owners has been formed to elect new leadership within the organization. Wilt was also named the managing director of

Green Bay Voyageurs FC Green Bay Voyageurs FC were an American soccer team based in Ashwaubenon, Wisconsin. Founded in 2018, the team was a member of the USL League Two. The team was owned by Big Top Soccer, who also owns Forward Madison FC of USL League One, and their ...

, Forward Madison's affiliate in

USL League Two USL League Two (USL2), formerly the Premier Development League (PDL), is a semi-professional developmental soccer league sponsored by United Soccer Leagues in the United States and Canada, forming part of the United States soccer league syste ...

. On October 24, 2019, Forward Madison announced Wilt's departure from the club in order to take a role with the USL.

References

External links

Chicago NASLOctober 2004 Interview
{{DEFAULTSORT:Wilt, Pete Chicago Fire FC Living people Major League Soccer executives People from McHenry, Illinois Sports in Milwaukee American soccer chairmen and investors Indy Eleven Forward Madison FC 1960 births