OUR TEAM

Partner

 Most recently John spent the past 6 years as Commissioner of the National Independent Soccer Association ("NISA"), a US Soccer sanctioned professional men's soccer league, with the Club 9 staff playing integral roles in the management of NISA. During John's tenure he oversaw the development of the following properties: the Legends Cup, a tournament style competition for NISA pro clubs; the NISA Independent Cup, a pro/amateur club competition for independent clubs; and NISA Nation, a nationwide amateur soccer league comprising of over 200 independent clubs. At Club 9, John utilized his contacts as a "rainmaker" and background as a turnaround manager to assist the firm in securing clients and developing client strategies. Prior to Club Nine Sports, John was the co-founder of Prometheus Capital, where he managed several middle market consumer-related businesses. He has been successful in the turnaround of companies through cost-cutting and aggressive sales and marketing. John accomplished these turnarounds by selling divisions and subsidiaries, acquiring companies, negotiating licensing agreements, negotiating long term contracts, moving domestic production to overseas, renegotiating new labor agreements and raising fresh capital in the form of both equity and debt.

Prior to Prometheus Capital, he was founder and Managing Director for Merchant Capital Group (Mercap), a Chicago based boutique merchant bank providing advisory services, merger and acquisition services and direct investments as principal in a number of consumer-oriented businesses including General American Door, LSJ Sportswear and Rapco International. John managed Mercap for ten years and was non-executive chairman of the companies that Mercap invested in as a principal. Prior to founding Mercap, John was Vice President of Equities Northwest, Inc. (ENI), which was sold to Oppenheimer & Company in 1982. ENI was the premiere source of venture capital and project financing to the energy industry in the 1970’s and early 1980’s. John progressed to Vice President in charge of their Chicago office. ENI raised over $100,000,000 per year in equity, with Chicago being the largest producing office.

Over the course of his career, John has served on the Board of Directors of numerous companies, both public and private. John attended Loras College in Dubuque, Iowa and majored in Political Science. He currently resides in Palatine, Illinois with his wife, Debbie

Partner

Joshua is a co-founder of Club Nine Sports.  

Most recently Joshua fulfilled the role of Executive Vice President of the National Independent Soccer Association ("NISA").  He was responsible the continued growth of the league which included adding twenty professional teams into the American landscape. In addition growing the League, he was in charge of compiling and submitting the annual sanctioning application to the United States Soccer Federation ("USSSF"), determining the annual format of the NISA Independent Cup, and for filling out the composition of the competition - both amateur and professional teams.

Joshua leads the Club 9 team in all  M&A transaction that includes distressed opportunities. Joshua assists in managing the due diligence process, identifying capital through financial institutions and strategic alliances, while creating strategic alternatives for the firm’s engaged clients.

Prior to Club Nine, Josh spent 7 years in a fortune 500 company in the supply chain management industry. He held several positions within the company ranging from Analyst to Project Manager to Department Head. Under Joshua’s lead, the company successfully designed, created, went to market, and supported two Windows based technologies. The first to market grew to controlling $35mm in revenue by year 4 and the second received the “Innovation of the Year – 2006” award presented by the USPS within 2 weeks of its press release. This opportunity allowed Josh to gain insight into the world of entrepreneurs, where he developed an in-depth understanding in their specific business needs and concerns. Both applications, produced revenues while eliminating substantial costs.

Joshua received his business degree in Supply Chain Management from Eli Broad College of Business at Michigan State University. He currently resides in Holland, Michigan with his wife and three children.

Partner

 JT is a founding partner of Club Nine and Prometheus Capital. He is an active hands-on contributor in participating ventures and has filled roles in both Finance and Operations most recently serving as both CFO and COO of the National Independent Soccer Association. He has served entrepreneurs throughout his 30+ year career with direct participation in real estate development and redevelopment, golf course construction and operations, electronics distribution, aviation, and financial services ventures. These projects and others have included procurement of governmental incentives, executing related monetization strategies and fulfilling reporting requirements. In addition, he has been involved in the development of custom enterprise resource planning and site-based project management solutions. His approach is founded on the belief that every industry is a service industry and that direct and honest communication is non-negotiable. He plays an active role in the due diligence, structuring, and valuation processes of the firm. JT holds a Bachelor of Arts degree in Business Administration with an emphasis in Accounting from Hillsdale College. On Fall Friday nights, you can find Coach Thompson on the sidelines coaching High School football in Southwest Michigan where he resides with his wife and family. 

Managing Director, Branding and Communications

With an extensive career in executive brand building, Samantha has helped build some of the most notable & recognizable retail brands worldwide including Abercrombie & Fitch, abercrombie, Hollister, Ruehl, Gilly Hicks and Aviator Nation. Her executive leadership role within the Abercrombie & Fitch family of brands allowed her to collaborate with some of the leading creative and marketing minds worldwide. She’s played a key role in creating iconic retail brand experiences, campaigns and brand environments. She brings her passion, leadership and experience to each project; driven to create & deliver distinctive, individualized and meaningful brand experiences, she brings excellence to every endeavor. Samantha earned her Bachelor of Arts & Science Degree in Interior Architecture & Design from Bowling Green State University. 

Managing Director, M&A

Simon is laser focused on creating growth for Club Nine clients specializing in strategic advisory and acquisition services for ultra high-net-worth investors in professional sports in the United States and international football/soccer. Valued for deal sourcing and evaluating opportunities in sports M&A, contributing human capital and front office organization strategy expertise and building off of years of experience in expansion strategy and business development for the first six years of a professional soccer league, Simon’s post-MBA career to date demonstrates his capacity to convert early-stage mission and vision into executing on actionable strategies. Simon is an experienced Adjunct Professor having taught at three business schools on three different continents and he has spent time living on both coasts and in South America. Currently, Simon lives with his family on the Space Coast in central Florida and his mood on Saturdays usually depends on the latest Bristol Rovers result. 

Project Manager

Landon specializes in market research, analytics, strategy, and business plan development. As a lifelong sports fan, Landon was always drawn to the management and marketing side of the game. He was an Account Executive at Gameday Promotions for the Northwest Arkansas Naturals, double-A affiliate of the Kansas City Royals, and the Assistant Director of Marketing and Public Relations with the Helena Brewers, rookie league affiliate of the Milwaukee Brewers. Throughout his career, he’s led social media management, the hiring and management of gameday staff, internal and external sales initiatives, press box management, ticket packages, sponsorship and promotion, group sales, suite sales, and fundraising. He is the Market Analytics and Outreach specialist for NISA’s Expansion Division, guiding several groups through NISA’s expansion process. Landon also currently serves as the Vice President for Student Life at Cottey College. He has a B.S.B.A. in Marketing and Management with a minor in Sociology from Missouri Southern State University, a M.B.A. from Adams State University, and a doctoral degree from Lindenwood University in Higher Education Administration.

PR Specialist

Steve Johnson learned to craft messages and tell stories over more than 25 years as a senior agency leader, corporate communications executive, and reporter. He’s worked spectrum of communications practices, as well as diversity & inclusion.

Early in his career, while managing regional public and government affairs for Amoco Corp., he launched their NASCAR team. Over twelve years as an agency lead for the US Army, he launched a Professional Bull Riding team and jumped out of an airplane with the Golden Knights. He has executed crisis communications coaching for TransUnion on five continents. Every summer he provides communications guidance to MBAs in Dow Chemical’s summer program. And at the beginning of his career, he regularly chatted up Andre Dawson and Harry Caray as a Chicago Cubs media relations intern.

His current focus is providing executive coaching and counsel, developing and executing full strategic communications architecture, and running traditional and social media executions. He also is a speaker and mentor at Northwestern University’s Kellogg School of Management, as well as Chicago incubators 1871 and the Polsky Exchange. Steve earned his bachelor’s degree in print journalism from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign while achieving a minor in history.

Project Support

Alexa comes to Club 9 Sports with a background that touches on various aspects of project management and execution. Having created her own small start-up business in the visual arts world, wearing many hats has become a skill that allows her to take on various stages of projects within the company. Committed to the big picture while focusing on the small details is her biggest strength as she assists and supports various efforts within the company. Alexa earned her Masters Degree in Education and has used her understanding of learning and growth within the business realm to enhance the forward progress of new initiatives.