New stadium for Chivas

While people grumble about Carson, I've never noticed the Galaxy struggling much to get attendances. Chivas USA fails not due to location but for other reasons:

1) It exists in a City that already had a strong team before they arrived.
2) It's branding is divisive. Sure, you might tap into some of the Chivas G fanbase, but if you support America, Cruz Azul, Atlante or pretty much any other Mexican club, you won't support a brand extension of the original Chivas.
3) Many Chivas G fans simply don't care about MLS, even if it does contain a club that dresses up as their favourite team.
4) For all their attempts to make LA Galaxy look artificial, they're the very epitome of a crass cash-in attempt.
5) They suck.

 

Im all for it! But i want Galaxy to get a Red bull or Man city type stadium oval roof top , not really a huuuuge fan of the HDC stucture

 

I wonder how much it would cost to deconstruct the Red Bull Arena and have it shipped to LA. After all, the NYRB fans aren't using it...

 

I know right !

 

Get some Qatar oil baron to fund it. They can use it as a trial run for all those movable stadiums they promised for when they host the World Cup.

 

I think Mickey Mouse is a bit harsh, despite some amazing recent entries in Houston, New York and Kansas City The Home Depot Center is still one of the best stadia in the league. While the roof in New York is cool looking, on a warm summer evening in Carson the more open to the elements nature of The HDC can’t be beat.

 

I agree, although on those few rare occasions when it rains the lack of a roof is a major bummer.

 

Honestly as physically unpleasant as those can be, I love ‘em, some of my favorite memories actually. There’s something about being out in the rain with LA fans who are so often seen as fickle & effete. I’m biased, but I don’t think many other teams in LA would have so many people in the rain.

 

I love how anywhere you sit in the HDC it's a great place to watch the game, and i don't really mind rain and no roof

 

I don't know.

It's quite interesting watching thousands of SoCal natives looking in awe at the skies, a reverent hush spreading around the stadium, only broken when somebody proclaims:

"Hark! The Gods send down a plague of water to punish us! What Sin did we commit against thee, Harry Snyder? Why hast thou forsaken us?"

Then a mass stampede for cover, while wet people from the upper deck hurl themselves over the railings to hasten their impending doom.

 

Nah, attendance is down from last year about 2% and down 12% from the 2008 peak. They can’t move too much further north or they miss out on the Orange County demographic, being more centrally located might draw more fans, but AEG can charge more being in Carson. What they really need to do, and probably have wanted to do for a long time, is raze the surrounding area and create a Downtown Disney type thing. Right now Carson is not a place you want to spend time before or after the game.

 

I'll believe it when I see 7,000 people do something like this...

 

Chivas fans would steal the shovels.

 

All 3 of them? (Btw, the 7,000 are just community volunteers/students in need of service hours, etc. Not necessarily Chivas fans.)

 

Why didn't they just name the team "Chivas Los Angeles"? Chivas USA still sounds stupid.

 

That's the point, my friend. They wanted to sound stupid from the start, so they named themselves Chivas USA. Rest is history.

 

As for the Red Bulls, I bet they are regretting their New Jersey location. Unless your sport is handegg, you shouldn't build a sports venue there.

BTW, did the commissioner say that there will be 15 teams next year that play in SSS's? Did he count the Sounders? Man, **** them. Their stadium is not an SSS. I don't care how versatile Century Link Field is compared to other NFL stadiums. When an MLS team still SHARES their place with an NFL team in this new era of MLS, they ought to be ashamed of themselves. **** them and their fake grass.

 

At risk of derailing the conversation, you have no idea what you are talking about. The problem has more to do with the Red Bulls organization itself and the team's failure to win any significant competions throughout its entire history going back to the Metrostars days than it has to do with the stadium's location. Having been both a Galaxy STH and (former) Red Bulls STH, I can attest that the Galaxy is light years ahead of the Red Bulls when it comes to attracting and keeping fans and promoting the team. The Red Bulls seem to actually go out of their way piss off and alienate fans who WANT to support MLS.

To bring things full circle, look at the poor attendance at Chivas matches. The location of the venue isn't the problem. It's because Chivas fields crappy teams that don't win anything and the organization is poorly run. Moving Chivas into their own SSS isn't going to attract new fans. Rebranding the team, hiring a front office that actually has a clue, and building a winning team will.

 

You are right. But if I was a Red Bull fan from NY and knowing that there will be a Cosmos team that will actually be based inside New York City, I'd be pissed that I'm stuck with a New Jersey team.

I still stand by what I said, though. NJ is just not an ideal place for sports. The Nets had plans to move to Brooklyn for years. The Devils always have a competitive team but they still have a hard time drawing fans.