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Founder & CEO, Top Tier Lessons

Cara Bognar is the founder of Top Tier Lessons, an innovative platform connecting NCAA student-athletes with young athletes for personalized coaching and mentorship. A former captain of the University of Illinois swim team, she has earned recognition as a rising entrepreneur, winning multiple startup competitions and being nominated for NIL Innovator of the Year for expanding equitable NIL opportunities for college athletes.

President, Momento

Thomas Fletcher is a serial entrepreneur and sports technology innovator. After co-founding Fletcher Chicago and Fletcher London, a pioneering sports camera technology company that was successfully acquired in 2016, he co-founded Momento in 2019, where he is transforming the fan experience through in-the-moment, roller coaster-style fan photography and crowd analytics.

Fletcher was inducted into the Sports Broadcasting Hall of Fame in 2023 and received the American Society of Cinematographers' Bud Stone Award in 2026 for his decades of contributions to the industry.

CMO, Chicago Fire FC

Dan Moriarty is a seasoned marketing executive and currently serves as Chief Marketing Officer of Chicago Fire FC. Known for leading innovative fan engagement and brand strategy initiatives, he has built an impressive career across sports, hospitality, and digital marketing, earning a reputation for driving impactful customer experiences and organizational growth.

🎟️ As a member you get 15% OFF any event. Use code: CSTW15 Get your tickets for CSTW: Chicago Sports Tech Week. Tickets are limited based on venue capacity

🗝️ See all the options here: https://chicagosportstechweek.com/#tickets

🤝We're excited to welcome NIL Store as one of the official designers for Chicago Sports Tech Week, bringing their unique, creative new collection, Urban Champs, to the stage. Blending elevated streetwear design with authentic school and athlete storytelling, Urban Champs creates fashion-forward pieces that celebrate the identity of universities, athletes, and the communities they represent. From exclusive graphic tees and hoodies to limited-edition collections, the brand is helping shape the future of fan apparel at the intersection of sports, culture, and NIL.

🗓️When: Thursday, July 23

📍Where: Centre Court Production | 469 N Racine Ave, Chicago, IL 60642

📲Learn More: NIL Store

🎄Bears Team Up With Hallmark For Christmas Movie — And They’re Looking For Extras The home of sappy love movies has one coming that’s near and dear to our hearts. Every year, Hallmark kicks off the Christmas season (some would say too early) with its “Countdown to Christmas” in October. Hallmark plays holiday-themed movies 24/7 from then straight through New Year’s Day. The NFL and Hallmark have partnered over the last few years on “Holiday Touchdown” movies, and now the Bears have a chance to shine on the big screen. Filming begins in July, featuring local Bears fans as extras and at iconic Chicago locations. The timing of the selection and filming is fascinating. The Bears have one foot out of Chicago and one foot in Hammond, IN. By the time the film premieres during the holiday season, the ‘Chicago’ part of the Bears may be purely decorative. Kind of like the Christmas lights that’ll go up all around the city. Block Club Chicago presents which Bears personnel may appear in the movie and which NFL franchises have already starred in a “Holiday Touchdown” movie.

🤑9-year-old Arizona boy, dad get $75,000 for baseball card with White Sox's Munetaka Murakami's autograph Munetaka ‘Mooney’ Murakami has been money for the resurgent White Sox this season despite a hamstring injury. When he signed for the club, little did he know he would help bankroll a young baseball fan's future college expenses. Back at the start of the MLB season, Mason Deane picked out a box of Topps Chrome Black baseball cards that included a signed Mooney card. He was a hot prospect coming into the season, but his performance for the surprising Sox has sent his rookie card's value through the roof. It’s a feel-good story for a young baseball fan that would only be made better if he was a South Sider instead of a Diamondbacks fan. CBS News reports on what Mason wanted to spend some of the winnings on and when he’ll meet Mooney.

🏀Chicago builds momentum for WNBA All-Star Weekend WNBA All-Star weekend returns to Chicago after a four-year hiatus. This time around, a powerful group of influential locals has been working together to expand the impact of All-Star weekend off the court. The Host Committee — which includes Chicago natives/former players Dwayne Wade and Candace Parker along with civic leaders and business execs — aims to highlight Chicago’s appeal in sports, economic development, and culture. Events and community initiatives will highlight these aspects leading up to the All-Star Game, with long-lasting impact expected well beyond it. For example, the first fire-orange 3-point line (a signature of the WNBA) appeared at Hamilton Park as part of efforts to promote greater visibility and girls’ participation. WNBA All-Star Weekend could be twice as big as it was in 2022, with events taking place at United Center and Wintrust Arena. But the work that’s done off the court among local Chicago businesses, former professional athletes, and civic organizations could be just as big. And it can leave a lasting imprint for years to come. The Chicago Crusader details what the members of the Host Committee and others are doing to uplift Chicago before, during, and after WNBA All-Star Weekend.

🎰Kalshi posts $1 billion-a-day volume from coast-to-coast World Cup betting If it were up to Kalshi, the World Cup would be every year. Kalshi had been ecstatic about its first-ever billion-dollar trading volume day…until it got a taste of World Cup numbers. That came in June, on Game 5 of the NBA Finals. Throughout just the group stage of the World Cup, Kalshi averaged between $1 billion and $1.25 billion a day. It dwarfs anything online sports betting can touch…that is, if you still consider prediction markets completely separate from that. That’ll be up for debate for a while. But Kalshi’s market share dominance isn’t going anywhere. FIFA president Gianni Infantino has shown a willingness to expand FIFA’s reach in ways that increase profitability. It might not be difficult for Kalshi to convince him to replicate the World Cup’s impact more frequently. Especially if trading volume continues to increase as the tournament goes deeper into the knockout stages. Sports Business Journal provides more figures on Kalshi’s trading volume during the World Cup and overall prediction market share.

📈CNBC’s Most Valuable Sports Empires 2026: Here’s how the world’s top 20 stack up If you’re curious, none of the Chicago-based sports empires made CNBC’s Most Valuable Sports Empires list for 2026. Not to say that the value of their empires is unremarkable. The value of the Wirtz (Hawks), Reinsdorf (Bulls & Sox), Ricketts (Cubs), and McCaskey-Halas (Bears) sports empires is collectively estimated to be between $36.5 billion and $42 billion. But Chicago’s sports empires are largely one-team only. Of the top five most valuable sports empires, only Jerry Jones’ has one team. It just so happens to be the most valuable sports franchise in the world, the Dallas Cowboys. No one tops the Kroenke Sports & Entertainment empire, worth $26.05 billion and up 23% from last year. Its sports empire spans two continents and four professional sports leagues. The top 20 are worth 20% more than last year at $269 billion combined. Translation: There’s never been a better time to own a sports franchise, especially one in the NFL and NBA.

🥫Heinz releases 'unofficial' ketchup in response to FIFA brand blackout Heinz has found a way to make lemonade out of a lemon (or…ketchup out of tomatoes). For the World Cup, FIFA controls many aspects related to approved sponsors. If a brand is not a corporate sponsor, the brand is censored for the duration of the tournament. This is why, for example, Mercedes-Benz Stadium in Atlanta became ‘Atlanta Stadium’ for the matches it hosts. For Heinz, with $25 billion in annual revenue and seen in nearly every pro sports stadium nationwide, this could have posed an issue. Instead, in a brilliant marketing maneuver, Heinz turned the censorship into a win. Who can’t recognize a Heinz ketchup bottle even with tape over its brand name? Now people want to buy the censored version as a collector’s item. In effect, its ‘Unofficial Stadium Ketchup’ campaign has garnered Heinz more media and cultural relevance than the brands that paid FIFA millions to be official sponsors. A valuable lesson in marketing ingenuity, indeed. The Toronto Sun provides an image of the Heinz ‘Unofficial Stadium Ketchup’ ad.

💸College Sports Roster Spending Soars Beyond $20.5M Rev-Share Cap The House vs NCAA settlement was intended to somewhat level the playing field. It hasn’t. D1 schools have been searching for and finding loopholes, however they can, for years before they could legally pay student-athletes. It shouldn’t surprise anyone that the competitive nature of college sports has driven schools to find ways to spend beyond the $20.5 million ‘cap’. Especially in college football. The College Sports Commission, which was established to monitor any wrongdoing in NIL deals, has yet to establish its authority. According to NIL company Opendorse, Power 4 conference schools are offering student-athletes nearly $15 million above the revenue-sharing cap. And that number could creep up to $20 million very soon. It’s no wonder student-athletes are staying in school longer and, in some cases, bypassing their sport’s pro draft. Front Office Sports reports on exactly how much schools are paying over the rev-share cap and what to expect going forward.