Analyzing a franchise in flux – Equalizer Soccer

Photo Copyright: Melissa Tamez for Imagn Images

The Laura Ricketts-led investment group was a lifeline to the 2023 Chicago Red Stars. 

The new ownership group, headed by Chicago Cubs part-owner Ricketts, took over to the tune of $35 million, pledging an additional $25 million in investments. But while the first year included promises to change the team’s culture and play a splashy Wrigley Field match, Year 2 has been a step backward for the club. A quarter of the way through the season, the Stars have fired head coach Lorne Donaldson, and are back in last place in the table, sitting in a mess of their own making.

The new ownership group has a net worth in the billions, but insists on spending as little money as possible to strengthen their club. The group has placed their trust in general manager Richard Feuz to build a side capable of winning trophies, and Feuz still believes the team has everything it needs to succeed in the NWSL for this season and beyond.

“Did we progress in terms of control, of possession? Maybe not enough,” Feuz said recently to The Equalizer. “But is the team worse than last season? No. [And] in the numbers from Opta, from SoccerDonna, the team value is better this season.”

Is Feuz in denial of the real problems the team faces? Or are fans too impatient about a slow, but potentially steady, rebuild for the team? Either way, the current situation for the Chicago Stars begs the question: what is really going on?

Year 1: Finding results

Richard Feuz was one of the first hires for the new-look Stars. The Spanish-Swiss national began his professional career at Servette FC in the Swiss top-flight league in 2016. He joined the club as a trainee in hospitality and management and climbed the ranks to club CEO by 2020. Servette’s women’s side finished top of the table in four consecutive seasons, and in 2023, the men’s side finished second, its best performance in 24 years.