Major League Soccer (2005-2014)
Tombstone
Born: August 2, 2004 – MLS expansion franchise
Folded: October 27, 2014
First Game: April 2, 2005 (L 2-0 vs. D.C. United)
Last Game: October 26, 2014 (W 1-0 vs. San Jose Earthquakes)
MLS Cup Championships: None
Stadium
Home Depot Center (27,000)
Opened: 2003
Marketing
Team Colors:
Ownership
Owners:
- 2005-2012: Antonio Cue, Lorenzo Cue, Jorge Vergara & Angelica Fuentes
- 2012-2014: Jorge Vergara & Angelica Fuentes
- 2014: Major League Soccer
Background
Chivas USA was Major League Soccer’s second Los Angeles franchise, sharing the Home Depot Center in Carson with the Los Angeles Galaxy. The club started out as an expansion franchise in 2005. Billionaire investor-operator Jorge Vergara also owned the popular Mexican club C.D. Guadalajara (colloquially known as “Chivas” or Goats).
The concept was that the Chivas USA would be a sister team to C.D. Guadalajara and might create appeal for a Latino fan base that had thus far shown only tepid support of the Galaxy in L.A. and Major League Soccer more broadly. One of Guadalajara’s claims to fame in Mexico was its nationalism – the club exclusively employs Mexican players. This policy would draw notice in Chivas USA’s final seaons, after Vergara and his wife acquired sole control of the franchise and allegedly began to harass and dismiss non-Spanish speaking employees.
Early Years
Chivas USA’s early years seemed promising. Future U.S. National Team head coach Bob Bradley guided Chivas to a playoff berth in its second season in MLS in 2006 before departing take over the U.S. Men. Replacement Predrag Radosavljevic (better known as “Preki”) took over as manager in 2007 and led Chivas to a 1st place finish in MLS’ Western Conference. This turned out to be the franchise’s high water mark. They were bounced in the first round of the 2007 playoffs and would never win a playoff series.
Beginning in 2010, Chivas USA began a downward spiral that saw the club fail to ever again finish higher than 7th in MLS’ Western Conference. The franchise also became something of a public relations embarrassment to MLS. Home attendance plummeted more than 50% between 2011 and 2014, bottoming out at 7,063 per match in 2014.
In 2013 two former MLS players who had coached in Chivas USA’s youth academy, Dan Calichman and Ted Chronopoulos, filed a discrimination suit against the team, claiming they were dismissed from the team because they were not of Latino descent. Separately, an African-American former HR manager of the team filed a discrimination suit against Chivas USA a few months after Calichman and Chronopoulos.
Demise
In February 2014, Major League Soccer purchased Chivas USA back from Jorge Vergara and his wife, Angelica Fuentes. The sale price was not officially disclosed, but both Sports Illustrated and The Los Angeles Times reported the figure to be in the neighborhood of $70 million. MLS operated Chivas USA through a lame duck final season before shuttering the franchise one day after the club’s final game on October 26, 2014. Also in October 2014, MLS sold the former Chivas franchise – now effectively a new L.A. expansion team – to a large investeor group led by venture capitalist Henry Nguyen and Mandalay Entertainment CEO Peter Guber. The group intends to launch a re-branded MLS club in L.A. in 2017, eventually playing in its own soccer-specific stadium.
During Chivas USA’s 10-year run, it was part of the only European-style local derby in Major League Soccer. Chivas and the Los Angeles Galaxy met 34 times in those ten seasons, with the Galaxy enjoying a wildly lopsided advantage of 22 wins, 8 draws and just 4 losses in the so-called “SuperClasico” derby.
Chivas USA Shop
Chivas USA Video
Highlights of Chivas USA’s final match on October 26, 2014 against the San Jose Earthquakes at the StubHub Center.
Downloads
2011 Chivas USA Media Guide
2011 Chivas USA Media Guide
Links
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