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Franchises

MLS Officially Shutters Chivas USA, With L.A. Expansion Franchise Set To Be Announced

MLS yesterday "folded the troubled Chivas USA franchise after 10 mostly forgettable seasons," according to Kevin Baxter of the L.A. TIMES. Team employees were "called in to a meeting Monday morning and told the franchise, which has been owned and operated by the league since February, was ceasing operations immediately." The MLS BOG "unanimously approved the dissolution of the franchise" at its meeting in L.A. earlier this month. The league on Thursday will "formally award an expansion franchise" to a group headed by Vietnamese-American businessman Henry Nguyen, Dodgers and Warriors co-Owner Peter Guber and U.K. soccer club Cardiff City Owner Vincent Tan. The group has "pledged to build a soccer-specific stadium," and the new team "will begin play" in '17. Chivas USA's players "will be made available to the league's surviving teams in a dispersal draft next month." The club's "highly regarded development academy in Bell Gardens will also be shut down by next summer, with the league promising to seek homes for those players as well" (L.A. TIMES, 10/28). The MLS said that it had "met with 15 potential buyers who were interested in acquiring the Chivas franchise and that it had begun talks with Nguyen’s group in April." In N.Y., Andrew Das notes MLS "consulted with its players union before shuttering the team," and MLSPU Exec Dir Bob Foose released a statement "in which he largely agreed with the move to address the Chivas situation" (N.Y. TIMES, 10/28). In L.A., Phil Collin reported the sale is "estimated to be near" the $100M mark, after the league purchased Chivas for a reported $70M. All along, MLS "has been adamant" about L.A. "having another team alongside the star-powered Galaxy." Apparently, the "failure of Chivas did not dissuade" the league's BOG from that notion (L.A. DAILY NEWS, 10/28). SI.com's Brian Straus noted Chivas USA’s history and records "will not convey to the new club, which will start from scratch as an expansion team" (SI.com, 10/27).

THE SHOOTING STAR: ESPN FC's Jeff Carlisle cited sources as saying that MLS intends to hold the dispersal draft "around Dec. 1." It is "not clear at present" whether expansion teams NYC FC and Orlando City SC will be included, as the source said that there are "still some details to be ironed out" with the MLSPU. Sources said that Chivas F Erick "Cubo" Torres, who led the team in scoring this year, is "unlikely to be included in the draft." The league is "in the process of exercising the option on Torres' contract," and sources said that he "likely will be made a designated player" (ESPNFC.com, 10/27). SI.com's Straus noted Torres' value "might be greater than the sum" of his 15 goals this season. Torres is a "rising star capable of connecting with a legion of Mexican-American soccer fans, and his recent call-ups to the Mexican national team strike a blow in favor of those who believe MLS can nurture real international talent." But because of the decision to shutter Chivas USA and "start from scratch, there's next to no chance that Henry Nguyen and his partners ... will be able to showcase Torres" when they enter MLS in '17. Torres "played for Chivas USA this year on loan from sister club Chivas de Guadalajara," with the deal including an "option to purchase his rights at the conclusion" of the '14 season. A source said that the transfer fee is $7.5M. That is "quite a bit by MLS standards," and it "may be more than a single team is willing or able to pay" (SI.com, 10/27).

THE FATAL FLAW: ESPN FC's Carlisle writes MLS Commissioner Don Garber's tenure "has been marked by an impressive string of successes, especially when it comes to expansion," but Chivas "will likely go down as the league's biggest blunder." The decision to share the StubHub Center with the Galaxy "proved disastrous," as it "hindered Chivas USA's attempt to establish an identity apart from its L.A. rival." Many factors "contributed to the team's demise, but Garber singled out the decision to specifically target the Hispanic market while aligning with the brand of a single Mexican club." Garber: "After 10 years, we've realized that the strategy was just not on target. In so many different ways, it didn't capture the attention of the Hispanic market." He added, "I think it was more a bad idea than bad execution. Hindsight is 20/20. I'd do it all again the same way" (ESPNFC.com, 10/28). In San Diego, Mark Zeigler writes the "what-if game, no doubt, will focus on Chivas owner Jorge Vergara’s scheme to create an American version of the storied Mexican club" Chivas de Guadalajara, which "famously refuses to sign foreign players in an era of sports mercenaries." But it "quickly became clear the concept had little traction, even in a market where red- and white-striped Chivas of Guadalajara jerseys are as omnipresent as Lakers' or Dodgers'" (SAN DIEGO UNION-TRIBUNE, 10/28).

THE SUNNY SIDE: YAHOO SPORTS' Brooks Peck wrote it was a "failed experiment and one that was rightly ended, but it also highlights just how incredibly successful MLS has been in its short history of trying to establish itself in a country that supposedly didn't care about its sport." It "wasn't too long ago that two ownership groups owned a total of nine of the league's teams all at the same time." Now new owners are paying up to $100M "for expansion rights." So while the end of Chivas USA "might be seen as a step backwards for the league, it comes in the midst of 10 steps forward" (SPORTS.YAHOO.com, 10/27).

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