Chivas USA "has largely been a failure" since its '04 inception, despite all the "progress MLS has made in recent years," according to Billy Witz of the N.Y. TIMES. MLS when it created the club "had high hopes of tapping into Southern California’s large Hispanic market." However, the lessons learned "have mostly been in how not to run a franchise." Selling the Chivas USA/Chivas de Guadalajara brand to non-Mexicans and expatriate fans of other top Mexican clubs "proved difficult, and poor management decisions were stacked one upon the next." MLS this season is "operating Chivas USA while it searches for a new owner, who will rebrand the club." Two requirements the league "has put forth are that the owners live locally and that they build a stadium for the team, preferably at one of several sites the league said it had identified" in downtown L.A. MLS President & Deputy Commissioner Mark Abbott said that the league "was in negotiations with several interested parties and that 'our goal would be to sell it by the end of the year.'" But the league’s optimism "is tempered by the fact that no group has publicly expressed an interest in purchasing the team in the last six months." Abbott stressed that a new stadium that "could seat about 25,000 fans was essential to the club’s future." Chivas USA is currently in last place in the Western Conference, and off the field, the outlook "is equally grim." For the second year in a row, Chivas USA "does not have a jersey sponsor." Local newspapers "rarely cover the team’s matches," and the club "began its second consecutive season without its games being televised locally." Still, Chivas USA President Nelson Rodriguez "points to incremental progress." The team "has made several acquisitions, although none of them are marquee players." New TVs "have been installed in the players’ lounge, and chefs now prepare meals before and after practice" (N.Y. TIMES, 9/5).
