Chicago Magic Soccer Club
Tax status: for-profit (operates as a brand within the 3STEP-owned Chicago FC United organization)
Overview
Chicago Magic Soccer Club was founded in 1989 as an independent elite-tier youth soccer organization in suburban Chicago. After more than two decades of independent operation, Chicago Magic merged with FC United in 2016, integrating its facilities, coaching staff, and competitive teams under a unified governance structure. Chicago Magic continues to operate as a competitive brand within the combined organization, with the Magic name retained specifically for the club’s ECNL Boys, ECNL Regional League, and Pre-ECNL programs.
The Magic brand’s administrative operations are based in Glenview, IL, alongside FC United’s headquarters.
Legal & Ownership Structure
Chicago Magic is owned by 3STEP Sports through its acquisition of SMP Holdings (Sports Made Personal) in June 2022. SMP — founded by Chad Gruen — owned the combined FC United / Chicago Magic entity at the time of the transaction. Gruen subsequently became CEO of 3STEP Sports in 2024.
3STEP Sports is the largest PE-backed youth-sports platform in the United States, backed by Juggernaut Capital Partners with co-investment from Ares Management and Fiume Capital. In April 2026, Sportico reported that 3STEP retained Goldman Sachs to explore a sale of the platform, which creates near-term uncertainty about Chicago Magic’s long-term ownership.
As a for-profit subsidiary brand inside a PE-backed corporation, Chicago Magic does not file a Form 990 and its standalone financials are not publicly disclosed.
Teams & Players
Chicago Magic operates ECNL Boys and ECNL-RL Boys teams across U13–U19 age groups. The club joined ECNL Boys for the 2022–23 season as part of the Midwest Conference, one of six clubs added that cycle (per TopDrawer Soccer coverage). Pre-ECNL programs at younger ages feed into the ECNL pipeline.
Total combined player count across the Magic and FC United brands is not publicly disclosed.
League Affiliations
- ECNL Boys — Midwest Conference (joined 2022–23)
- ECNL-RL Boys
- Pre-ECNL — developmental feeder programs
The girls-side and younger-age boys programs operate under the FC United brand with separate league affiliations (MLS NEXT for boys; Girls Academy for girls).
Facilities
Operations share the combined organization’s facility base, including the Vernon Hills Athletic Complex (where FC United co-invested in synthetic turf with the Vernon Hills Park District in 2019). Specific Chicago Magic-only venue assignments are not publicly listed.
Leadership
Chicago Magic operates under the consolidated leadership of the FC United organization:
- Chad Gruen — founder (via SMP Holdings); now CEO of 3STEP Sports
- Greg Waldbaum — President, FC United / Magic
- Specific Magic-brand technical leads are listed on the club’s site but not consistently named in public press
Competitive Position
The Chicago Magic brand serves as the combined organization’s competitive vehicle on the ECNL Boys side — a deliberate brand-segregation choice given that FC United holds the MLS NEXT franchise. By running ECNL and MLS NEXT under separate brand identities, the parent organization preserves both league memberships and avoids the league-conflict tensions that often arise when a single club name appears across competing top-tier platforms. The model is uncommon in U.S. youth soccer and depends on continued league tolerance of dual-brand structures inside one corporate parent.
Industry Context
Chicago Magic is one of the clearest examples of brand portfolio management inside a PE-backed youth-soccer operator. Rather than retire the legacy Magic name after the 2016 merger or the 2022 3STEP acquisition, the combined organization retained it to anchor ECNL Boys participation while keeping FC United as the MLS NEXT brand. This brand-architecture pattern — multiple competitive brands inside one legal entity — is a frequent feature of platform consolidation but creates complexity for league-rights tracking and could be unwound (or reorganized) in the event of a 3STEP sale or restructure. The Magic brand’s specific value sits in its ECNL franchise rights and its 35+ year heritage in the Chicago metro youth-soccer market.
Open Questions
- Specific player count and team count for the Magic-branded programs vs FC United-branded
- Standalone facility assignments for Magic teams
- Whether the dual-brand structure (Magic for ECNL, FC United for MLS NEXT) survives the pending 3STEP sale process
- Revenue contribution of the Magic ECNL Boys program within the parent organization