Chivas USA to suspend operations after MLS season

[notthesun]

http://www.espnfc.com/major-league-soccer/story/2061689/chivas-usa-to-suspend-operations-after-mls-seasonsources-say

New ESPN report claiming Chivas will be sold for $100 million and the sale is conditional on the team taking a two-year hiatus.

Implications for TFC are that Chivas players will be up for grabs in some fashion, and it also remains to be seen what happens with their 2015 1st round pick, which we hold.

[Wagner]

I feel for their fans. at MLS cup 2010, the Chivas guys were the coolest guys to party with.
I hope those supporters get a team that deserves THEM.

[Jpexxx]

How did we acquire that 1st rounder?

It would be very lame, but also very MLS if that asset disappeared.

[KGH]

How did we acquire that 1st rounder?

It would be very lame, but also very MLS if that asset disappeared.

Trade for our top pick in the allocation order in 2013 where Chivas picked up Bocanegra:

http://www.thegoatparade.com/2013/7/1/4484022/official-chivas-usa-sign-carlos-bocanegra

There's no way MLS doesn't honour the pick.

[Ajax TFC]

I imagine there will be a dispersal draft to prevent the entire team from going to free agency. Though I honestly wonder how many of their players will get picked up. I doubt if anyone worth picking up will be available when TFC selects. Though I wouldn't mind getting Avila back if he doesn't get picked up

[Cashcleaner]

Heh. Rewind to before the 2014 season starts and Garber is "fully assured" in the stabiliy of Chivas.

Ah well, if you ask me, this franchise is just going to fade away and we'll see Sacramento Republic FC admitted into the league as California's third MLS club.


http://www.sacrepublicfc.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/06/sacramento-republic-fc-logo.png

[notthesun]

Though I wouldn't mind getting Avila back if he doesn't get picked up

Reportedly sold to Santos Laguna, he'll be moving after Chivas' season is over.

[Fort York Redcoat]

I imagine there will be a dispersal draft to prevent the entire team from going to free agency. Though I honestly wonder how many of their players will get picked up. I doubt if anyone worth picking up will be available when TFC selects. Though I wouldn't mind getting Avila back if he doesn't get picked up


Reportedly sold to Santos Laguna, he'll be moving after Chivas' season is over.

Always looked for him in the highlights and was surprised how much I'd hear his name. He's still a contributor.

[jaahuuu]

Heh. Rewind to before the 2014 season starts and Garber is "fully assured" in the stabiliy of Chivas.

Ah well, if you ask me, this franchise is just going to fade away and we'll see Sacramento Republic FC admitted into the league as California's third MLS club.


http://www.sacrepublicfc.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/06/sacramento-republic-fc-logo.png

Sacramento tried to buy Chivas, the league said no. (http://www.thegoatparade.com/2014/9/18/6427105/espn-reports-mls-torn-possible-chivas-usa-hiatus-sacramento-republic-fc-tried-buy-club)

[Initial B]

I can understand MLS waiting two years - they want to have the rebrand reenter the league at the same time as Atlanta in 2017 and keep the conferences equal. They'll probably have Miami enter the league along with the 24th franchise in 2019 and stabilize it there for a while before expanding to 28 teams.

[Oldtimer]

I imagine there will be a dispersal draft to prevent the entire team from going to free agency. Though I honestly wonder how many of their players will get picked up. I doubt if anyone worth picking up will be available when TFC selects. Though I wouldn't mind getting Avila back if he doesn't get picked up

There is a handful of players who will likely get picked up, but really the majority of their players won't likely end up in MLS next year. It's not worth preserving this particular roster for footballing reasons (e.g. through loan deals), it's better for a new team to start from scratch. Of course, MLS making things up as they go along, they might disperse some players and loan out others.

[Detroit_TFC]

I expected Nelson Rodriquez to do more as CUSA caretaker president but now it's apparent he just was there to get the sale to completion. $100M is peanuts in terms of other sports teams in the LA market but much more than I expected for the CUSA corpse, with few assets except maybe the CUSA youth system, which I understand was more substantial than anything else CUSA had going.

I certainly can't blame the new owners wanting to put some space between CUSA and their new project.

[Red CB Toronto]

Happy that TFC has their first round pick in 2015, given how bad Chivas is, it will be high, will be either 3 or 4 based on the current standings. Not too bad a pickup for the rights to a player however good he was , that is retiring this year.

[Red CB Toronto]

I expected Nelson Rodriquez to do more as CUSA caretaker president but now it's apparent he just was there to get the sale to completion. $100M is peanuts in terms of other sports teams in the LA market but much more than I expected for the CUSA corpse, with few assets except maybe the CUSA youth system, which I understand was more substantial than anything else CUSA had going.

I certainly can't blame the new owners wanting to put some space between CUSA and their new project.

I view it very much as a new expansion team for LA, which to tell you the truth considering how this is going is down, is a correct assumption. Considering that, the $100M price tag is not out of line when you look at recent new teams.

[Jack]

It was always a lame experiment. Chivas is such a huge club in Mexico and has followers all over, but you can't translate that to a USA "franchise". The thing is, while there will be a lot of Mexican-Americans who have Chivas traditions in their families, there will be just as many that have ties to other big clubs, like Pachuca, Leon, Morelia, Santos and America. A lot of those would probably prefer to cheer against, rather than for Chivas.

[ryan]

Trade for our top pick in the allocation order in 2013 where Chivas picked up Bocanegra:

http://www.thegoatparade.com/2013/7/1/4484022/official-chivas-usa-sign-carlos-bocanegra

There's no way MLS doesn't honour the pick.

Just remind Garber that TFC is in Canada, then we'll see what's what. Never put it past MLS/Garber to stick it to any and all things Canadian.

[notthesun]

https://twitter.com/KurtLarSUN/status/516957402361778176

@KurtLarSUN: "I'm told TFC doesn't foresee reported contraction of Chivas USA having an impact on any draft picks they've acquired from the club."

[ryan]

So does next year's table have Houston back in the West so it's 10:10?

[Initial B]

So does next year's table have Houston back in the West so it's 10:10?
It would have to be both Houston and Sporting KC in order to make it equal. The West is going to be ferociously competitive next year. The East... well, it depends how strong Orlando and NYCFC will be coming out of the gate.

[ryan]

It would have to be both Houston and Sporting KC in order to make it equal. The West is going to be ferociously competitive next year. The East... well, it depends how strong Orlando and NYCFC will be coming out of the gate.

Houston I feel belong over there, seems a better fit to be playing along side Dallas and the like.

KC however is a team I'd rather stay in the East. I feel they fit and have developed rivalries here. I suppose there is no choice though.

[Cashcleaner]

Sacramento tried to buy Chivas, the league said no. (http://www.thegoatparade.com/2014/9/18/6427105/espn-reports-mls-torn-possible-chivas-usa-hiatus-sacramento-republic-fc-tried-buy-club)

Really? That sucks. Seems like a no-brainer to me.

[Detroit_TFC]

Vincent Tan is part of the ownership group looking to buy the ex-Chivas USA franchise, according to Grant Wahl.

Comedy gold.

[Red CB Toronto]

Really? That sucks. Seems like a no-brainer to me.

They are really set on maintaining two teams in LA.

[Brooker]

Vincent Tan is part of the ownership group looking to buy the ex-Chivas USA franchise, according to Grant Wahl.

Comedy gold.

Christ on bike, PLEASE don't let that happen.

[tfcleeds]

Vincent Tan is part of the ownership group looking to buy the ex-Chivas USA franchise, according to Grant Wahl.

Comedy gold.

Yeah, why not have a guy who's already proven to be incompetent at being a club owner? :facepalm:

[tfcleeds]

Chivas was a bad mistake, but they're a big part of our history. I certainly remember where I was when this match was played:


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3ZC-HA4FvSM

[Cashcleaner]

Vincent Tan is part of the ownership group looking to buy the ex-Chivas USA franchise, according to Grant Wahl.

Comedy gold.

The thing is, a guy like Tan is probably exactly the type of owner the league wants. His rebranding scheme at Cardiff City to attract more international exposure may have drove the fans up the wall, but the execs at MLS were probably quite impressed by the business acumen behind it. I wouldn't want the guy anywhere near one of my teams, but what I want and what investors in the the league want are two very different things.

Though all said, I'll believe this rumour when I see him cut the cheque and shake Garber's hand.

[Detroit_TFC]

The thing is, a guy like Tan is probably exactly the type of owner the league wants. His rebranding scheme at Cardiff City to attract more international exposure may have drove the fans up the wall, but the execs at MLS were probably quite impressed by the business acumen behind it. I wouldn't want the guy anywhere near one of my teams, but what I want and what investors in the the league want are two very different things.

Though all said, I'll believe this rumour when I see him cut the cheque and shake Garber's hand.

More info is coming out on the ownership group. Tan's involvement, while notorious and amusing, in reality won't be hands on. There is a majority owner, Henry Nguyen, venture capitalist and son-in-law of the Prime Minister of Vietnam, and three investors - Peter Guber, a Hollywood producer and part of the Dodgers and Golden State Warriors ownership groups; Tom Penn, former NBA executive, agent and ESPN analyst; and Tan. This is a hooked in, deep pockets group of dudes. But its not necessarily a group with a lot of soccer expertise. They have the resources to present a serious challenge to AEG for LA's soccer market, IF they bring in the right kind of soccer folk.

[OfficeGuy]

Reportedly sold to Santos Laguna, he'll be moving after Chivas' season is over.


Yea - I asked him after the game - he is headed to Santos