A Day In The Life With Fire COO John Urban

"A Day in the Life" is a feature in SBD examining the daily habits of interesting personalities in sports business. This week, Fire COO JOHN URBAN details his efforts to find the best restaurants in Chicago and become a real Chicagoan.



6:30-6:45am: We live in the Streeterville neighborhood which is in the heart of everything. It gives me the chance to learn my way around town and my wife ANNE and I the chance to explore neighborhoods from a good base of operations and quick access to Lake Shore Drive. I get up between 6:30 and 6:45. I do a light breakfast. I’m only a big breakfast guy on the weekends so during the week it’s something real light, like an ice coffee and some fruit and then jump in the car. In the morning my commute is about a half-hour and it’s another good way to learn your way around a new city. The radio is usually tuned to “Golic & Wingo” so I can get my dose of sports. But I do like old R&B, some classic and alternative stuff rock-wise.



9:00am: I get to work and get settled and see what’s going, anything left over from the night before. The season is up and running for us right now, but from a corporate partnership standpoint, we’re in pretty regular strategy and tactical meetings around the outreach plan for our ‘19 jersey partner. Even through the season we’re constantly in touch with our regular group of corporate partners. That’s pretty much almost a daily thing. Most folks would probably say I’m a less formal type of person when it comes to that sort of interaction. I enjoy the hallway drop in.



12:00pm: Sometimes we’ll schedule meetings that bring us to the city and if there’s one or two meetings that look like you’re going to be downtown you might layer in a lunch or do something. But it’s probably 50-50 where you might jump in the car and go grab a quick sandwich or you’ve got all the treasures you might imagine available for delivery out there. I tend to be a sandwich or sub guy and just grab something quick, like Portillo’s which is located 10 minutes from the stadium.



Urban said the team will be refreshing the brand and identity during the offseason Photo: JOHN URBAN Urban said the team will be refreshing the brand and identity during the offseason Photo: JOHN URBAN Urban said the team will be refreshing the brand and identity during the offseason Photo: JOHN URBAN

1:00-5:00pm: There is a rotation of things that are coming up on a pretty regular basis at this time of year for us. (Fire President & GM NELSON RODRIGUEZ) will always make sure we’re touching base 2, 3, 4 times a day at a minimum on a quick drop in. Our team and (the team from Spectra Management, which manages Toyota Park) has a cohesiveness, so we’re often speaking with their staff about operational results or fan experience. Elsewhere in the afternoon, we’re often reviewing marketing plans, we might be reviewing an advertising buy or upcoming promotion. We’re going to be doing some work on the brand, refreshing the brand and identity, during the offseason so we’re laying some groundwork for that.



6:00-8:00pm: The days do get busy but by 6:30 meetings might start to quiet down, so you’ve got an hour or two to really catch up on some of the other work. There’s a handful of folks left in the building by 7:00pm. In the world of soccer and academy everybody’s on a little bit different schedule. Folks are there when they need to be there. For me, I tend to like the later shift. It’s from growing up in the event business. I’m usually in the office until about 7 or 8.



8:30pm: I’m back home by 8:30 and try to get into the gym -- which is in my building -- usually by 8:45 to 9:30 if I can. Anne will schedule her Peloton workout to coincide with my time in the gym and then we’re back. Then we grab a healthy bite usually. We’re not real big on ordering in so we try to get the stuff that’s quick and easy to prepare. Anne eats a lot of veggies and chicken and pasta mostly and we usually come up with something pretty decent. Sometimes on the weekend we’ll actually roll up our sleeves and go out and get some ingredients and make a lasagna or make a bigger dish.



10:00pm: Sports is on the TV pretty much more than anything else and there’s no debate. Oftentimes, Anne will be the one putting the game on so we’re definitely in sync. We’re big fans of “BILLIONS” -- the cameos are great. We’re pretty much on the same page when it comes to movies, little bit more of the serious stuff, drama, documentaries. “IT’S A WONDERFUL LIFE” is probably my favorite of all time and No.2 is probably “WEST SIDE STORY.” Before going to sleep, it might be the end of “THE LATE SHOW,” it might be “SPORTSCENTER,” it might a late game from the coast. Usually by midnight the lights are off.