The Chivas USA experiment has officially come to an end.
On Thursday, Major League Soccer announced that it had purchased the club from much-maligned owner Jorge Vergara. According to a press release from the league, the club will be resold by the 2015 season, to an ownership team that will both rebrand the club and build a new stadium to keep them in Los Angeles.
The Wins Column: Adios Chivas!
Chivas USA had become the laughingstock of the league in recent years, and they appeared to be trending even farther downward during Vergara’s tenure. Vergara is also is the owner of Chivas’ now former parent club, Mexican powerhouse Club Deportivo Guadalajara.
Often criticized by American soccer fans for ignoring his American club in favour of his Mexican one, Vergara’s reason for selling Chivas USA affirms this belief.
“There is only one Chivas de Guadalajara, and we have realized that it will require more time, further resources, and a level of commitment that would divert too much of our focus from our other business interests,” Vergara was quoted as saying in the league’s press release.
MLS Commissioner Don Garber was always a big proponent of Chivas USA. To fans, he seemed as ignorant to the problems that Chivas were facing as Vergara was ignorant towards the entire club. But to the delight of the fans, Garber has finally opened his eyes and exercised his power.
The most remarkable part about the sale is that nobody saw it coming. The announcement dropped like a bomb on the league’s website on Thursday afternoon, and positive fan reaction quickly followed.
A quick scroll down the comments section led me to one particularly interesting piece.
“Long overdue. Don’t let the door hit your racist ass on the way out, Vergara.”
The comment has over 90 thumbs up (myself included), most out of any comment on the press release.
I’m not going to comment on those racism allegations or any of the others problems that have plagued this organization. I already have, and so has just about every soccer writer in North America. All that needs to be known is that the situation at Chivas was an atrocity and had severely tarnished the reputation of Major League Soccer.
But at long last it seems like those dark days are behind us.
So what’s next?
Major League Soccer does not want to have Chivas USA on its hands for a long time. The league has said it is aiming to flip the team in time for the 2015 season, but even Garber said such a timeline is “ambitious”.
Whenever the team is resold, the new ownership group will be one that will keep the team in Los Angeles, according to MLS. The site rumoured to be getting the most consideration by the league is in Exposition Park, near the campus of the University of Southern California. The current venue there, the Los Angeles Memorial Sports Arena, would have to be demolished in order to a soccer-specific stadium to be built.
The new owners will also be operating the team under a new name. Vergara is the owner of the Chivas brand and has allowed the league to use it for one more year on a “transitional basis”.
Last week, it was thought that we were getting a glimpse of the club’s new look as logos for “Los Angeles SC” and “Los Angeles F.C.” were registered with the US Patent and Trademark Office. However, these trademarks were filed by Chivas Guadalajara Licensing LLC and not by Major League Soccer. In short, neither of these trademarks (more so the logos than the names) should be taken very seriously anymore.
But until the sale and rebrand actually happen, Chivas will continue to be Chivas. For likely the last time in 2014, the club will be known as Chivas USA, they will share the Home Depot Centre with the LA Galaxy, and they will still wear the red and white stripes of C.D. Guadalajara.
The best part about this sale is easily the departure of Vergara. By far the worst owner in the league, keeping him on board would have only driven the club further into the ground. The bar that has been set for the next owner of this club is so low that a toddler could jump over it. Whoever the new owner is, they will have to show active involvement and a dedication to the club. When Vergara started turning a blind eye, so did the fans. It simply cannot happen again.
Another positive out of the deal is that the club can now reposition itself to a larger audience. The old Chivas was by design only for C.D. Guadalajara fans living in Los Angeles, essentially a market segment within a market segment. Any more segmentation might have dropped their fanbase into the hundreds. Soccer is supposed to be a game accessible to all, a game that transcends race, wealth, and sexual orientation among other things. Marketing the new club towards a general audience will echo this message while also maintaining distance between their more affluent crosstown rival.
Upon first reading about the sale, my reaction was of frustration for not moving the club to another market. Atlanta, San Antonio, St. Louis, and Minneapolis all jump out as markets that could support an MLS franchise. As was the case when New York City FC was announced, I was upset because I felt that reaching new markets was better than doubling down on existing ones.
But at this point, the club that is soon to be formerly known as Chivas USA will stay in Los Angeles. And just like in New York, the league believes that it can work.
I don’t doubt that it can work. I just know that the spectrum of “working” constitutes anything between thriving and not collapsing. Jorge Vergara and Co. were barely treading water. The owners of Chivas USA 2.0 will need to swim like Marilyn Bell.
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