C. Tyler Prochnow (born 1966,

Port Chester, New York Port Chester is a administrative divisions of New York#Village, village in the U.S. state of New York (state), New York and the largest part of the town of Rye (town), New York, Rye in Westchester County, New York, Westchester County by populati ...

) is an American businessman, lawyer and sports agent who was the founder, owner and first president of the

Kansas City Brigade Kansas ( ) is a landlocked state in the Midwestern region of the United States. It borders Nebraska to the north; Missouri to the east; Oklahoma to the south; and Colorado to the west. Kansas is named after the Kansas River, in turn named a ...

of the

Arena Football League The Arena Football League (AFL) was a professional arena football league in the United States. It was founded in 1986, but played its first official games in the 1987 Arena Football League season, 1987 season, making it the third longest-runnin ...

. He is currently the CEO of Wootz Nano. He also currently serves as an adjunct professor at William Jewell College, where he teaches an upper-level course in sports business. Previously, he was a founding partner of Think Big Partner

a for-profit business incubator in Kansas City and co-founder of Think Big Kansas Cit

Think Big has partnered with

Cisco Cisco Systems, Inc. (using the trademark Cisco) is an American multinational digital communications technology conglomerate corporation headquartered in San Jose, California. Cisco develops, manufactures, and sells networking hardware, s ...

Sprint Sprint may refer to: Aerospace * Spring WS202 Sprint, a Canadian aircraft design *Sprint (missile), an anti-ballistic missile Automobiles *Alfa Romeo Sprint, automobile produced by Alfa Romeo between 1976 and 1989 *Chevrolet Sprint, a rebadged v ...

and the City of Kansas City to create the iving Labfor Kansas City's Smart & Connected City initiativ

In 2011 Think Big Partners announced the first closing on their new venture capital fund, Think Big Ventures

and their first investment in

EyeVerify EyeVerify, Inc. is a biometric security technology company based in Kansas City, Missouri owned by Ant Group. Its chief product, Eyeprint ID, provides verification using eye veins and other micro-features in and around the eye. Images of the hum ...

br>
Prior to launching the Brigade, Prochnow was the founder and president of Golden Peak Sports & Entertainment, a sports representation agency with clients including

Deion Sanders Deion Luwynn Sanders Sr. (born August 9, 1967) is an American American football, football coach with the Colorado Buffaloes football, Colorado Buffaloes. Sanders is also a former professional football and baseball player, having played in the N ...

, Neil Smith, and Olympians

Amy Van Dyken Amy Deloris Van Dyken-Rouen (born February 15, 1973) is an American former competitive swimmer, Olympic champion, former world record-holder, and national radio sports talk show co-host. She won six Olympic gold medals in her career, four of wh ...

and

Aly Wagner Alyson Kay Wagner (born August 10, 1980) is an American sports broadcaster and retired soccer midfielder who was a member of the United States women's national soccer team. She is a two-time Olympic gold medalist and two-time FIFA Women's World ...

. In 2004, at the request of one of their NFL clients, Prochnow began to explore the Arena Football League as an investment opportunity for others, and decided to pursue the acquisition of a franchise for Kansas City. While initially approved to launch the franchise in 2007, Prochnow's group's plans were accelerated to 2006 when

Hurricane Katrina Hurricane Katrina was a powerful, devastating and historic tropical cyclone that caused 1,392 fatalities and damages estimated at $125 billion in late August 2005, particularly in the city of New Orleans and its surrounding area. ...

prevented the

New Orleans VooDoo The New Orleans VooDoo were a professional arena football team based in New Orleans, Louisiana. They were members of the Arena Football League from 2004 to 2015. The VooDoo were the second team to play in the Arena Football League and play in ...

from playing during the 2006 AFL season. At the end of the 2006 season, Prochnow sold his stake in the team to local businessman Chris Likens who took over operations. Prochnow graduated from

Oglethorpe University Oglethorpe University is a Private college, private Liberal arts colleges in the United States, liberal arts college in Brookhaven, Georgia, United States. It was chartered in 1835 and named in honor of General James Edward Oglethorpe, founder ...

in 1988 with a degree in political science and a minor in economics. After several years working in politics with a stint in the White House, he obtained his J.D. degree from the

University of Denver The University of Denver (DU) is a private research university in Denver, Colorado, United States. Founded in 1864, it has an enrollment of approximately 5,700 undergraduate students and 7,200 graduate students. It is classified among "R1: D ...

College of Law in 1995. Prochnow worked as an attorney specializing in marketing and advertising law for eight years before starting Golden Peak. He has lectured on the topic of marketing and advertising law around the country and has been a legal commentator on various sports related issues for media outlets.

External links

Press Release Announcing Think Big Kansas City
*, The Pitch, February 9, 2006
Lexis/Nexis profile Press release announcing formation of Kansas City Brigade "Brigade Pack Kemper, but Lose Home Opener"
LJ World, February 13, 2006

DMNews, April 25, 2002

VentureBeat, May 31, 2012

KC Business Journal, November 13, 2005 {{DEFAULTSORT:Prochnow, Tyler 1966 births Living people People from Port Chester, New York American lawyers American sports agents American football executives People from Kansas City, Missouri Pace Academy alumni