Wow, I wish I can say that's shocking. I hear that stuff alot. Our community efforts kind of become a waste because those fans don't show up. I like your idea regarding a reboot and not a rebrand. As always, the name, the word "chivas" turns of more people than our FO is willing to admit. 8-10k people for a chivas usa game is unacceptable. Chinatown? Yeah, I know that patch of land. I'd love to see something there. Pretty close to Dodger stadium.
I've got a question for EastLAChiva, though maybe others will have insight on this too. With this soft re-brand, they want to keep Chivas in the name. Why, exactly, is that? I can think of two reasons why they might want to keep Chivas in the name. First, they really see this team as a marketing vehicle for Guadalajara, not as a real entity in its own right. Second, they are scared of abandoning the Chivas name crutch. That second one gets back to the original marketing idea behind the team: there's a huge Guadalajara fan base in LA, why not give that ready made fan base their own Chivas team? It sort of makes sense (until you really think about it) -- but it makes sense enough that I can understand why they originally thought it would work. And maybe it did work, just not as well as they originally hoped. If it worked, but only a bit, I could see the management today being extremely scared of a wholesale rebrand. Right now they've got something that works badly, but still works a bit. They do have a small fan base, and maybe a lot of those are Guadalajara fans too. If they totally rebranded the team, I think they'd worry about losing that small fan base that they already have. And, of course, there's no guarantee the rebrand would attract enough fans to replace those they might lose. So maybe they are in a bit of a bind: rebrand totally and risk everything, or keep the Chivas name and all of its problems but still, probably, stumble along. Neither is an ideal solution. But that's all sort of hypothetical. I don't know if any of it reflects management's thinking.
I think a lot of your points are valid and possibly, true. Personally, I think a total rebrand admits total failure. (I'll leave the haters to eat that). I also think that the FO is looking for acceptance from Chivas de Guadalajara. Kind of like the immigrant brother trying to make it America while the big brother mocks his failures. There is also this: http://www.homedepotcenter.com/contentright.php?section=aboutus&venue=soccer&page=chivas A total rebrand would be somewhat expensive, I imagine.
this is kind of a popular thread, ironically for one supposedly based on the idea of being done with chivas usa. How about half of a re-boot? Aren't chivas referred to as "goats" half of the time by sports/soccer announcers/commentators? well, there's your re-boot name w/out it being too much of a distancing from chivas de guad. The official name could be LA Goats, and remove the Guadalajara part while keeping the colors and that same goat mascot thingy.
That will never happen since the brand is Mexican based anyway, which means it has to have spanish in it. Most likely when move out of the HDC(and we will) the name Chivas USA will be changed to Club Deportìvo Los Angeles with Chivas as a nick name. But we CD L.A. aka Chivas USA fans already know that no matter what our club does or how well we play you guys are going to complain no matter what. It is what it is I guess.
People need something to complain about and it just seems that the whole idea of a second "failing" (not my word because I pay enough attention to know the club isn't in that bad of shape) Los Angeles team is the new thing to complain about. People seem to forget about things like historical attendance or that corporate revenue can compensate for smaller gameday revenue. I personally think that the direction the team has gone on the field (away from Mexican based or Mexican-American players to just being an MLS team) can work for them regardless of their branding. I think a move away from Chivas USA (together with a different stadium location in LA) will make it easier to attract certain segments of the market, but the team has proven it can do well even with the name Chivas USA. The problem is that there has never been a cohesive vision for what the team is supposed to be. If the FO just builds a good team (and maybe leverages the fact that they are in LA and could attract a name player or two) that you will find acceptance in your market. You won't find acceptance here on BS, but this isn't exactly the kind of place I'd worry about finding acceptance at.
I think thats the whole point, to keep a resemblance to the one from Guadalajara (Club Deportivo de Guad). Atletico makes it sound like it wants to evoke La Liga, and then you get into the whole political problem of why prefer one over the other. Club Deportivo LA or LA Goats is good.. The issue is not regarding spanish. I've never heard someone say "the San Diego Fathers (padres) were good last night". New fans to soccer in LA wont even know that the team was first named after another team. The calls for re-boot, re-brand have nothing to do w/nationalism. You'd have the same problem if the Revs had been called "Rangers of New England". On the other hand, I dont think there wouldve been a problem if RSL had been named "Real Madrid of Utah", and had the use of players from the older team's B squad. The problem is FMF- or Scottish league in my example- suck as leagues, and Chivas Guad would probably be at the bottom of EPL or La liga. Nothing too dramatic is needed. Alter the jerseys a bit so it doesnt exactly resemble the other teams's jersey, and move out of freaking HDC somewhere closer to the heart of LA (&san fernan & san gabriel valley)
Alter the jerseys a bit so it doesnt exactly resemble the other teams's jersey, and move out of freaking HDC somewhere closer to the heart of LA (&san fernan & san gabriel valley) _______________________________________ The heart of LA is downtown ( because it's easy to get to from the Valleys and the East side, and soon the Westside, because LA actually has Public Transit now) The Sports Arena site would be good enough. My fear is that all the corruption issues surrounding the coliseum commissioners will doom any prospects at the Sports Arena location, even if USC is involved. Personally, if Chivas can't go downtown or to ELAC, they should just go to the Inland Empire (Riverside/Ontario) where land is more abundant and less expensive and the sports fan base is less saturated Any true MLS fans wants the reboot to be successful.........and hopefully soon.
LOL, nothing personal against the IE but come on the money, hype, and glory is in and around the downtown LA area.. I can't picture any franchise wanting to play way out in the Inland Empire. That's 'foreclosure city' in those parts. Hell Carson is bad enough, but the IE????
To my California ears "Club Atletico" sound like a gym, "Club Deportivo" sounds like a team. Maybe that's just me though.
Yeah this thread is a joke. Why isn't the same being said about any of the other problem teams that still exist in the league. Ppl started this type of thread even when Chivas was in the top third of the league in attendance. Not to mention it's redundancy; there are at least 40 other threads started in the last year that are a variation of the same subject. Instead of starting new threads, why can't the OP just bump one of them? For one thing... ...how the fock is an FC Dallas fan talking about low attendance numbers? When this same subject came up last season FC Dallas fans would flame anyone who brought it up. Now they're all for jumping on the bandwagon? I swear, the hypocrisy...
chivas paid to have an mls team, and they had decent attendance this week. now, support grows over time, and with fan support comes improvement. if chivas is happy, why should i tell them to quit.
I don't disagree with you. Even though FCD attendance is on a multiseason upswing, the last thing I want is for us to start acting like certain nouveau riche Spork fans who either weren't around for the Arrowhead days or conveniently forgot them.
I've learned a lot from this thread. I've been highly critical of the franchise since day one, if only because Vergara bullshitted for years. If they can move out of the HDC and get rid of the ugly USA chunk of the name (I'd even be OK with Chivas de Los Angeles) then it would benefit them massively. It's good to see them take some steps towards doing this.
yeah, but it took a herculean effort for KC and Dallas to be righted. KC is extremely solid, and Dallas is headed that way. However, one thing I've noticed w/all the successful "interior teams" (teams not located on the coast or chicago)- RSL & KC is that their owners were very much "on the ground". W/Checketts, he even did some controversial things, however, one thing you cannot deny is that they were very much involved in their organization and the community. You dont see that w/owners like the Hunts, the Vergaras. If you ask me, the most unsuccessful is Crew. They've had their own stadium since 99, and yet has never been listed as a profitable franchise. The one major problem w/chivas is that they're starting to be represented as part of the mexican/mex-amer community in LA, while the Galaxy is being represented as the American one. Nothing could be further from the truth. Galaxy has always had a predominant hispanic fanbse, probably reflective of LA itself. However, I can see how that misrepresentation would be propagated as an extension of the rivalry between US vs. Mex national teams. The potential racial factor is the very reason Chivas USA needs to be disconnected from mexico and rebranded...not because i feel offended that a mls franchise is associated w/mexico but because there is that potential for divisions to occur. Imagine a scenario where things get out of control during a US V Mex game, then those things spill over to a subsequent match between Galaxy v Chivas.
If this is true, I would imagine that the fact that Landon Donovan, Mexico public enemy #1, plays for the Galaxy also causes Hispanic fans to view them as the "American" club.
Who is done with Chivas - me! Are they are connecting with the mex-American fan base in LA; no way! More lost tennis fans looking for the tennis stadium than "mex-american" fans. I thought they (Chivas/THD) had outlawed those horns last time there. Nope only a few brought them. They sounded like lonely fog horns. The mexican and central american futbol fans I know go to the Galaxy at 4x the cost. They (we) know bad futbol when we see it. This is the MLS, where one season you are in the hunt for the MLS Cup and the next year with a new roster. The same fans who cheered the previous year are now screaming for everybody to be fired. The problem with Chivas is the ownership. More then enough seasons have passed to show that they can get results. Time to sell the team and pocket a HUGE profit.
Another location in LA that might work is about three miles west of the collesium and the 110 in the Crenshaw district next to the mall there's a big plot of land on the south west corner of MLK and Marlton. you can fit a small stadium there's a lot of businesses in the area that look abandoned. the Expo line isnt too far and the New Crenshaw line will have a stop in the area in the future. this area of LA has been largely ignored by folks and a stadium could bring in foot traffic and new business to the area. MLK blvd is really wide here and it looks like it can accomadate the added car traffic. The only issue is parking but maybe there's a way to get a deal to work with the mall and the businesses in the area. If Chivas is serious about a reboot and attracting more fans instead of focusing on placing a stadium near Heavily Hispanic Neighborhoods they can look all over LA. the team can send a message they they want everyone to jump on board and support the goats.
Another location in LA that might work is about three miles west of the collesium and the 110 in the Crenshaw district next to the mall there's a big plot of land on the south west corner of MLK and Marlton. you can fit a small stadium there's a lot of businesses in the area that look abandoned. the Expo line isnt too far and the New Crenshaw line will have a stop in the area in the future. this area of LA has been largely ignored by folks and a stadium could bring in foot traffic and new business to the area. MLK blvd is really wide here and it looks like it can accomadate the added car traffic. The only issue is parking but maybe there's a way to get a deal to work with the mall and the businesses in the area. If Chivas is serious about a reboot and attracting more fans instead of focusing on placing a stadium near Heavily Hispanic Neighborhoods they can look all over LA. the team can send a message they they want everyone to jump on board and support the goats. _________________________________________________________ Not that it's a bad location but too many fans would have to come by car and rhe neighborhood will have a cow. You are aware that any development near or on the expo line is litigation central don't you? I really think if Chivas is going to stay in greater LA, it will be the "latin" team in LA whether they like it or not, and even if their fanbase is the identical demographic as LAG's. So assuming the coliseum commission corruption stuff derails the sports arena site, either go for it all (ELAC) or go to the Fairplex or anywhere in the IE where a re-booted team will bhe embraced. Radically different from HDC and likely very hostile to the LAG.
Initially yes but the Light rail line is eventually going to be built down crenshaw. and yes i'm aware of the litigation but i think it will sort itself out the line is opening this week and planning for the crenshaw line has already started. the location i mentioned isnt near the expo line. as for traffic i think i can be properly mitigated just like they do down at the home depot center. they can close residential streets and route evreyone to MLK and chrenshaw that plot of land i mentioned looks empty and some of the buildings are in disrepair the area really needs a boost. local activist are always bringing up how its a neglected part of the city. well here's a good way to bring in some development. and as for the hispanic neighborhood thing. http://www.nytimes.com/2012/04/25/u...-changed-complexion-since-the-riots.html?_r=1 Crenshaw is considered part of south LA . .
Definitely over Chivas USA being in Major League Soccer. There's definitely a hispanic market to cater to in the greater Los Angeles area, but a lot of people have grown to love and respect the LA Galaxy. The Galaxy have done well to brand themself and Chivas USA is definitely in the shadows. Sharing a stadium sucks, and it doesn't look like Chivas USA will build their own stadium. Progress with the club has sucked over the years. It's definitely time for the team to with draw and for another MLS expansion team to take their place. Orlando is looking like a solid candidate, the league could use a couple more clubs out East.