Sunday at Augusta was everything a golf tournament should be. Drama, tradition, and a finish that reminded you why the sport still matters. There's something to be said for formats that feel earned; where the stakes are real and the outcome isn't manufactured. More of that, please.

Alright. Back to work.

There's a feeling in Toledo right now that's harder to dismiss than it used to be. Not hype. Not the recycled optimism that shows up every few years before quietly fading. Something that's actually starting to move.

But here's the question nobody's answering cleanly: what is Toledo's economic identity beyond real estate, manufacturing, and service-based businesses?

Those three categories aren't going anywhere. They're the foundation. The issue is foundations don't differentiate you, they just keep the floor from collapsing.

Which is why this week's conversation mattered more than most.

Kaden and I sat down with the owner of the Glass City Wranglers, Toledo's professional basketball team, and what started as a sports conversation turned into something else entirely. A real talk about markets, community investment, and what it actually takes to build something people show up for. In a city like Toledo, that last part isn't a given. You earn it.

Professional sports at the local level are easy to underestimate. But the owners who make it work are business people who understand that a team is an economic signal. A reason for a city to believe in its own momentum.

The Wranglers are investing in Toledo's appetite for something to rally around, and if the investment pays off, It attracts attention, opens wallets, and quietly starts to shift the story this region tells about itself.

That's the real play. And we wanted to understand how they're thinking about it.

Let’s get into it.

Owens Corning | $OC ( ▲ 1.1% )

Dana Incorporated | $DAN ( ▼ 0.14% )

The Andersons | $ANDE ( ▲ 0.54% )

Owens Illinois | $OI ( ▼ 1.7% )

Welltower Inc. | $WELL ( ▼ 0.27% )

Marathon Petroleum Corporation | $MPC ( ▼ 5.51% )

First Solar | $FSLR ( ▲ 0.73% )

Josh Radtkin speaks about sports the way some founders talk about markets: with precision, obsession, and long memory.

“Athletics have taught me everything,” he said early in the conversation.

That mindset is equal parts competition and discipline, which sits at the center of everything he’s built, from crafting championship belts used by major programs to launching a professional basketball team in downtown Toledo.

Today, Radtkin leads the Glass City Wranglers, a professional basketball franchise competing in The Basketball League (TBL). But long before the Wranglers took the court, his path started with a decision that many traditional advisors would have discouraged.

He walked away from college.

Radtkin grew up in Toledo and left college after realizing it wasn’t the right fit. He had been on scholarship, but the direction wasn’t clear and continuing to pay for school without a defined path didn’t make sense.

Instead, he noticed something most people overlooked at the time: the internet was changing how communities operated, including sports leagues.

That observation became the foundation of his first major venture.

For more than 15 years, Radtkin has built ProAM Belts and Championship Chains, a company specializing in high-end championship belts and chains. What began as a niche product for fantasy football leagues quickly expanded into something much larger.

Today, ProAM produces championship products used across:

Over the past decade and a half, Radtkin estimates the company has produced more than 10,000 championship products worldwide. Buyers are companies and orgs like: NBA G-League, Under Armour, Baseball Factory, Buffalo Wild Wings, Cintas, Golf Digest, Etc.

Some of the company’s most recognizable pieces: Chains for the Toronto Raptors, Philadelphia 76ers, Super Bowl winning Seahawks and Eagles. The chains helped turn sideline celebrations into national spectacles. Another breakthrough moment came when the Alabama football program requested a turnover belt. That same season, Alabama won the national championship, placing the product squarely in front of a national audience.

At one point, Radtkin was approached to appear on Shark Tank during Season 12. He ultimately declined.

Not because of lack of opportunity, but because of discipline.

He believed the cost of outside capital could outweigh the benefits.

“Outside investment dollars aren’t always worth it,” he explained. “They can create more overhead and slimmer margins.”

That decision stood in contrast to competitor TrophySmack, which later secured a $600,000 investment from Mark Cuban in exchange for 17 percent equity during the same season.

Radtkin stayed independent.

Then COVID arrived.

For a business built on deadlines: championship ceremonies, awards banquets, recognition events, etc.  the shutdown was immediate and unforgiving.

Games stopped. Ceremonies disappeared. Orders vanished.

What saved the company was diversification.

Years earlier, ProAM developed relationships within military organizations, producing retention awards and recognition pieces. When civilian demand collapsed, those military contracts kept production running.

Without them, survival would have been uncertain.

It was a reminder that diversification is often a necessary strategy.

Even as ProAM grew, sports remained the constant thread in Radtkin’s career.

He had experience promoting MMA events locally. He maintained relationships across sports organizations. And he understood Toledo’s sports ecosystem as well as anyone.

Then he noticed something others had overlooked. A geographic gap.

Between Cleveland and Detroit, both home to NBA franchises, Toledo sat without a professional basketball presence.

That realization became the catalyst for launching the Glass City Wranglers.

“The moment I realized Toledo would work was when I identified the gap between NBA teams in Cleveland and Detroit,” he said.

Toledo didn’t have to compete with NBA markets, it could build its own.

The Glass City Wranglers operate lean.

Unlike larger organizations like the Mud Hens or Walleye, both of which maintain dedicated office infrastructure, the Wranglers currently function without a centralized headquarters. Staff operate remotely, and the team subleases space downtown for games.

On the court, the roster carries 12 players, supported by two full-time staff members and 15 to 20 seasonal employees during the active season.

Off the court, the business model is straightforward:

Revenue Streams:

Currently:

Advertising revenue has already increased by approximately 50%, signaling growing market acceptance.

For a franchise still early in its lifecycle, awareness has been one of the most significant milestones.

For Radtkin, location mattered.

Early seasons were played in high school gyms, practical but limiting. Moving downtown changed the trajectory of the franchise, offering consistency, visibility, and legitimacy.

It also happened faster than expected.

“Had a 10 year plan to be downtown, and in 5 years we made it downtown.”

That move transformed the team from experimental to credible and credibility drives attendance.

Few minor league teams openly discuss aspirations of reaching the NBA G-League.

The Wranglers do.

The requirements are clear:

But the underlying thesis is simple: Toledo has the right market conditions.

Detroit previously hosted a G-League team, but proximity to an NBA franchise diluted demand. Toledo, by contrast, offers regional reach without direct NBA competition.

Less competition often creates stronger fan engagement and that dynamic sits at the core of the long-term strategy.

Despite the scale of his ventures, Radtkin’s philosophy remains unconventional.

“I normally treat my businesses as a hobby,” he said. “And if they grow, then we pursue.”

It’s a mindset rooted in curiosity rather than obligation, experimentation before expansion.

But underneath that casual framing sits a disciplined operator who invests heavily into the Wranglers and continues to fund growth personally.

Calculated risk and not reckless expansion defines his model.

Perhaps the most revealing insight from the conversation came not from a statistic, but from a philosophy.

Patience, timing and execution.

Every milestone from ProAM Belts to the Wranglers  traces back to incremental progress rather than sudden leaps.

The strategy has never been about overnight success, It has always been about the long game.

And in business, as in athletics, endurance often beats speed.

Here are a few headlines we are snacking on

Most service businesses don’t have a quality problem. They have an attention problem.

You do good work, Your customers are happy, But too many people in your market still don’t know who you are, what you do, or why they should trust you.

That’s the gap Noah Keel Media was built to close.

They help service businesses across Toledo and Northwest Ohio turn social media into a steady source of visibility and leads not by posting random content, but by building a system. A system that puts your business in front of the right local audience.

A system that uses clear, informational video content to show your work and build trust before a customer ever picks up the phone. A system that turns views into conversations and conversations into paying jobs.

From planning and scripting to filming and editing, everything is handled for you. The goal isn’t just more content. It’s more customers.

If your business does great work but still relies on word-of-mouth alone, it may be time to make your visibility match your reputation.

See examples of their work and client results here → Client Examples