Chris Ackels is the Vice President of Strategic Engagement at the Hunt Sports Group, where he is responsible for media relations, speechwriting, government affairs, partnership engagement, and brand strategy for the ownership entity of the Kansas City Chiefs and FC Dallas.
In 2026, both organizations are undergoing major stadium projects: the Chiefs recently announced an agreement with the state of Kansas to build a new dome stadium, practice facility, and mixed-used district, and FC Dallas is currently undergoing renovations at Toyota Stadium in Frisco, Texas. Both organizations will play a major role in hosting FIFA World Cup 2026, including nine matches in North Texas and six matches at Arrowhead Stadium in Kansas City.
Chris is also a sports announcer and broadcaster, having announced nearly a dozen sports at the collegiate and professional level. He currently serves as public address announcer at Notre Dame Stadium for all Fighting Irish home football games. He has called games for the Chicago White Sox, Chicago Bulls, the Big Ten and Big East Conferences, and numerous other teams and organizations. Chris is also a published sports writer, including bylines with ESPN and Fox Sports.
Before entering the sports industry full time, Chris served as a high school English teacher and baseball coach at Catholic high schools in Chicago and Milwaukee for a total of five school years. He was most recently the varsity head coach at Loyola Academy, Illinois’s largest Catholic high school, where he also taught Journalism and American Literature.
A Dallas native, Chris is an alum of Jesuit College Preparatory School of Dallas. He has a Bachelors in Communication from Saint Louis University, a Masters in English from DePaul University, and an MBA from Texas Tech University. He is a member of the PwC SMU Athletic Forum Board of Directors and serves on the Board of Directors for the Ignatian Spirituality Institute in Dallas.
Favorite sports memory:
In 7th grade I stole home in the semifinal game of the Dallas Catholic baseball league, then went on to win the championship. It’s either that, or the Texas Rangers winning the World Series in 2023. The two feats are equally impressive in my mind.
Your global sports Mount Rushmore:
Lamar Hunt, American sports pioneer in football, soccer, tennis, and basketball
Pierre de Coubertin, founder of the modern Olympic movement
Michael Jordan, basketball star during the early peak of sports globalization
Billy Jean King, whose 1973 victory helped earn female athletes respect
World leader would you put in goal:
Jacinda Ardern, the former Prime Minister of New Zealand. I’m convinced she could handle it. (She’s also a Sun Devil!)
Which athlete would you want to be world leader:
NBA player/coach Steve Kerr, preferably with Greg Popovich as his vice-something
A sign that the world of sport is shrinking:
My wife and I went for a walk recently in Dallas, Texas, and came across a group of people playing cricket in a local park. Like, full on cricket. I tried, and failed, to explain the sport to my wife.
Where would the Great Game Lab find the quintessence of global sport:
The Olympics and the World Cup bring the world together like nothing else can.
Question you'd most want to ask other fellows:
I’d love to pick their brains on the ways we can solve some of the key issues arising in sports, such as: (1) How do we solve college sports’ financial problems? (2) How do we solve the money-pit of youth sports and ensure young people can still just play? (3) Should baseball have robot umpires??