One of the questions of the offseason has been why the Fire waited a month after the season to dismiss coach Veljko Paunovic. The thinking goes that because Paunovic’s record didn’t change after the finale Oct. 6, any decision should have come more quickly.
Owner Joe Mansueto said he thinks the Fire have moved quickly, in general, considering he took over the team in mid-September.
During an interview with the Sun-Times, Mansueto said changing positions isn’t something he does lightly. Because they affect people’s families and careers, he wanted to be thoughtful and have discussions about such moves. That applied to Paunovic, who was dismissed after Mansueto and president Nelson Rodriguez made the decision for a change.
‘‘I feel we moved pretty expeditiously,’’ Mansueto said. ‘‘Could we have done it quicker? Perhaps, but it was a timeline that felt comfortable to me.’’
When discussing Paunovic, the Fire looked at their goals, the culture they want to build and his record and decided he wasn’t a fit moving forward.
‘‘Obviously, we had not had the results that we would like to have had over the past four years, and at some level there needs to be some accountability,’’ Mansueto said. ‘‘I wish Pauno the best. He’s a terrific person, but we just felt it was time to make a change.’’
Television
When the Fire released their 2020 schedule, they said local broadcast details would be announced later. They still have one year left on their ESPN+ deal, but the Fire are exploring options for the upcoming season for a more traditional local broadcast that would go with the streaming service.
‘‘I’m optimistic we’ll get something done, but we haven’t finished that,’’ Mansueto said. ‘‘We’re talking to a number of outlets, and we hope to get something done. But there are no guarantees. So we’ll see. Hopefully, we’ll have something to say on that front over the next month or so.’’
Mansueto said the Fire are talking to the ‘‘major’’ broadcast TV outlets in the area.
‘‘If you’re a broadcast outlet and we haven’t reached out to you, please reach out to us and we’ll talk to you about it,’’ a laughing Mansueto said. ‘‘We’d like to see where there’s interest, and I think there’s a lot of interest in carrying the Fire.’’
Ticket sales
Mansueto said the team has sold more than 7,000 season tickets, which is a club record. The Fire have a goal of drawing 25,000 a game to Soldier Field, which would double their average last year in Bridgeview.
Single-game tickets aren’t yet available.
‘‘Things are on track,’’ Mansueto said. ‘‘The momentum will build as we sign players, as we get closer to the season. I think we’re on track to get to that mid-20 goal.’’
Mansueto indicated he didn’t have a goal for season-ticket sales and was more interested in total attendance.
‘‘I’m somewhat new to the league, but it sounds like that is changing,’’ Mansueto said. ‘‘People are buying fewer season tickets with things like third-party vendors. Across the league, people are selling less season tickets and more mini-packs or single-match seats since they’re more available.’’
2020 expectations
Mansueto said that the roster is ‘‘coming together’’ and that the Fire are having discussions with ‘‘a lot of incredible talent.’’ He said they’ve been offered ‘‘hundreds’’ of players and are being proactive with ones they’ve targeted.
His expectations for 2020 are not low.
‘‘It’s huge,’’ he said. ‘‘We absolutely have to be a very strong team in 2020. We have to be entertaining. We have to be fun to watch. All of those things. And we will be that. We’ve got all the pieces in place.’’
