Peter Wilt, 37, Tuesday was named general manager for the Chicago Major League Soccer franchise that is slated to begin play at Soldier Field next spring. Within two months, he expects to hire a coach and put season tickets on the block, trying to carve a niche in a market in which competition for the sports and entertainment dollar is already exceptionally fierce.

The MLS team will be Chicago's first top-flight outdoor soccer club since the Sting folded its tent in the early 1980s.

Wilt has a reputation as an aggressive promoter who has had success with lower-division teams in both small and large markets. The former general manager of the now-defunct Chicago Power pro indoor club, Wilt currently runs the second-division A-League's Minnesota Thunder, which averaged a league-high 4,500 last season.