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Ownership Group Of MLS Club Replacing Chivas USA To Include Warriors' Guber

MLS "will soon announce the owners" of its new L.A.-based team that will replace Chivas USA, and the ownership group that is "almost certain to land the team includes Henry Nguyen, Peter Guber, Vincent Tan and Tom Penn," according to Grant Wahl of SI.com. MLS "is expected to announce the winning group officially as soon as next week," after the league's BOG meets on Monday in L.A. Nguyen would move to L.A. as the "majority partner," while Tan, the "flamboyant Malaysian owner of Cardiff City ... would be a minority owner." The fee for the new team, which "will likely start play" in '17, "is believed to be in excess" of $100M. The club "would be an expansion team in MLS, and Chivas USA would be dissolved." The group "has committed to building a new soccer stadium" in L.A. (SI.com, 9/30). Meanwhile, in California, Matt Thacker reported local business leaders and soccer fans in the San Fernando Valley "have been working behind the scenes" to bring an MLS franchise there "even though they recognize the long odds." The Valley Industry & Commerce Association "has been meeting with potential MLS investors to argue the San Fernando Valley would be the perfect location for a team." VICA President Stuart Waldman admits that his organization "will have to overcome" MLS' "preference for downtown locations." Some teams "have struggled to attract fans to suburban stadiums." However, Waldman believes that it "is unfair to compare the Valley to areas like Frisco, Tex., where FC Dallas plays." Waldman: "We need to be looked at as our own city and not a suburb of Los Angeles" (POSTPERIODICAL.com, 10/1).

SACTO'S SHOT: SI.com's Brian Straus wrote in terms of USL Pro club Sacramento Republic FC's MLS ambitions, "suddenly, a three-year plan seems too conservative, not only because of the level of support the organization has received, but because of competing markets' increasing interest in a dwindling number of MLS openings." Orlando City and NYC FC join next season and Atlanta comes aboard in '17. Republic "offered to buy Chivas and move it north but was rebuffed." Republic President & Founder Warren Smith: "We recognize the challenge. We know they want to be in Miami. I would too. It’s the (eighth) largest market in the country. And Minneapolis is one of the largest corporate headquarters in the country. But if you look at the recipe of success in MLS, I think it’s a good ownership group, people who know how to run an organization and a downtown stadium location. And we have that." Smith said that he is hoping the club can "demonstrate that Sacramento is the 'low-risk option.'" The club "currently is approaching 6,000 season ticket commitments and already has taken nearly 800 new deposits" for '15 (SI.com, 10/1).

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