California Franchise

Discussion in 'NWSL Expansion' started by newsouth, Sep 26, 2011.

  1. holden

    holden Member+

    Dundee FC, Yeovil Town LFC, Girondins de Bordeaux
    Oct 20, 2009
    Los Angeles
    Club:
    Dundee FC
    #76 holden, Feb 10, 2014
    Last edited: Feb 10, 2014
    Well, this explains why the LA BLues SC are not playing at Titan Stadium this year:



    Now I'm even more glad they're not playing in the same place as men's team.

    (And I thought this had been posted already, but not in this thread. The official schedule is out, and they are playing 4 out of 6 games at StubHub. The other two are at Occidental College where the Strikers played.)
     
  2. holden

    holden Member+

    Dundee FC, Yeovil Town LFC, Girondins de Bordeaux
    Oct 20, 2009
    Los Angeles
    Club:
    Dundee FC
    Apparently Chivas has filed for two new trademarks. One for Los Angeles SC and one for Los Angeles FC. So I might be reading way to much into this but... LA Blues SC retweeted this:


    Normally I'd just figure it was just Chivas rebranding. But LA Blues have been retweeting a lot of Chivas stuff beyond just that. So the combination of that got me thinking, what if they are looking to join the NWSL with a Chivas backed ownership rather than AEG? (and apparently I'm not the only one as one of the commenters on the Chivas news I linked to above said the same thing). Maybe the Los Angeles FC will be the mens team, and Los Angeles SC will be the women's team. I figured they'd be rebranding when joining the NWSL (and their recent adoption of "SC" plus retweeting about the SC filing is what made me think they'd be SC).

    Anyway, the LASC badge is pretty cool:
    [​IMG]
    The LAFC badge isn't as good, IMHO:
    [​IMG]
     
  3. WPS_Movement

    WPS_Movement Member+

    Apr 9, 2008
    It blends in with the rest of the logos in NWSL.
    And the color combination of Dark Red & Copper Gold is needed more than another Blue team.
    Would love to see jewelry colored gold kits with red numbers, gold shorts, and red socks.
    Make it happen holden. :thumbsup:
    [​IMG]
     
  4. SiberianThunderT

    Sep 21, 2008
    DC
    Club:
    Saint Louis Athletica
    Nat'l Team:
    Spain
    Nooooooo NONONONONO! Chivas USA has been an absolute hot mess the past several years in MLS, that is NOT a group I want in NWSL!
     
  5. holden

    holden Member+

    Dundee FC, Yeovil Town LFC, Girondins de Bordeaux
    Oct 20, 2009
    Los Angeles
    Club:
    Dundee FC
    #80 holden, Feb 17, 2014
    Last edited: Feb 17, 2014
    Normally I'd agree. But if Vergara joins with the LA Blues SC group, the team can't possibly be as bad on the field as Chivas USA. And if he doesn't brand and market it to a small subset of Los Angeles soccer fans who support one specific Mexican club, it'll have better attendance. And it will look better for NWSL to have another MLS (and Liga MX) owner rather than having AEG own two teams. Plus it's not like AEG's last foray into WoSo in LA was that great... Now what would be ideal (IMHO), is if Magic Johnson and his ownership group (who own the Dodgers and just bought the LA Sparks) were to get involved (imagine them building a small SSS in Chavez Ravine, that would be awesome). But I don't think that'll happen. So if it's between AEG and Vergara... well either one has it's downsides.
     
  6. SiberianThunderT

    Sep 21, 2008
    DC
    Club:
    Saint Louis Athletica
    Nat'l Team:
    Spain
    MLS PURCHASES CHIVAS USA

    ...welp, that explains the rebranding. Though I would be shocked to see MLS (the league office itself) decide to start running a women's team. I guess it depends on what buyer they find down the road.
     
  7. holden

    holden Member+

    Dundee FC, Yeovil Town LFC, Girondins de Bordeaux
    Oct 20, 2009
    Los Angeles
    Club:
    Dundee FC
    Wow! I did not see that coming. C'mon Magic.... buy Chivas!
     
  8. SiberianThunderT

    Sep 21, 2008
    DC
    Club:
    Saint Louis Athletica
    Nat'l Team:
    Spain
    From the comments in the article, it sounds like no-one saw this coming. Which is kind of a shock in the internet age where every major announcement gets leaked somehow. Even MLS Rumors thought it was just a rebrand (based on what had been leaked already)!
     
  9. holden

    holden Member+

    Dundee FC, Yeovil Town LFC, Girondins de Bordeaux
    Oct 20, 2009
    Los Angeles
    Club:
    Dundee FC
    Yeah, I think the whole rebranding thing was just subterfuge. The article states that they retain the rights of the Chivas brand in the US, and the rebrands were registered by Chivas Guadalajara Licensing LLC, not Chivas USA... so I don't think those 2 brands will be available to the new owners.
     
  10. holden

    holden Member+

    Dundee FC, Yeovil Town LFC, Girondins de Bordeaux
    Oct 20, 2009
    Los Angeles
    Club:
    Dundee FC
  11. holden

    holden Member+

    Dundee FC, Yeovil Town LFC, Girondins de Bordeaux
    Oct 20, 2009
    Los Angeles
    Club:
    Dundee FC
    So the Blues are looking like they're a NWSL team already...

    [​IMG]
     
  12. SiberianThunderT

    Sep 21, 2008
    DC
    Club:
    Saint Louis Athletica
    Nat'l Team:
    Spain
    ...as in... having Nike jerseys? Particularly the hoop-arm design? A lot of teams would look like NWSL teams, then.

    Oh, btw I finally figured out (or rather, remembered) why the LA Blues seem to like Chivas a lot: Chivas officially partnered with the LA Strikers a few years ago.
    http://www.examiner.com/article/chivas-usa-partners-with-w-league-la-strikers-fc
    http://www.thegoatparade.com/la-strikers
     
    Nacional Tijuana repped this.
  13. holden

    holden Member+

    Dundee FC, Yeovil Town LFC, Girondins de Bordeaux
    Oct 20, 2009
    Los Angeles
    Club:
    Dundee FC
    SiberianThunderT repped this.
  14. holden

    holden Member+

    Dundee FC, Yeovil Town LFC, Girondins de Bordeaux
    Oct 20, 2009
    Los Angeles
    Club:
    Dundee FC
  15. kernel_thai

    kernel_thai Member+

    Oct 24, 2012
    Club:
    Seattle Sounders
  16. holden

    holden Member+

    Dundee FC, Yeovil Town LFC, Girondins de Bordeaux
    Oct 20, 2009
    Los Angeles
    Club:
    Dundee FC
    Yep. She hasn't been very involved in NWSL stuff, but hopefully her presence in the ownership group will at least mean they are open to the idea of a NWSL team.
     
  17. kernel_thai

    kernel_thai Member+

    Oct 24, 2012
    Club:
    Seattle Sounders

    While it isnt expansion, I did have an idea for Cali. What if they expanded on the MLB spring training model and started their seasons in Cali and Florida. As it works best with a 10 team league Ive taken the liberty of adding a team. U put five teams in Florida and five Cali based on an East/West format. They start in February and play eight matches. Same rosters, same ownership. Then they head to their regular venues and play each league team two more times giving u a 26 match schedule from Feb thru Aug. Putting the teams in two pods not only helps with the weather but they also could bus to matches
     
  18. holden

    holden Member+

    Dundee FC, Yeovil Town LFC, Girondins de Bordeaux
    Oct 20, 2009
    Los Angeles
    Club:
    Dundee FC
    A warm-weather preseason is certainly a possibility. We've already seen the Thorns go down to Tuscon and play preseason games against U of AZ and ASU. Maybe next year they'll convince a couple NWSL teams to come as well. But I don't think the owners would want it to be part of the regular season.
     
  19. SiberianThunderT

    Sep 21, 2008
    DC
    Club:
    Saint Louis Athletica
    Nat'l Team:
    Spain
    I didn't watch the video (at work), so if there's a direct mention in there you can ignore me, but I don't think her being on an ownership group signals anything for NWSL. Heck, she also just got on the board for AS Roma, who knows what that means.
    Actually I think she has, just more background-type operations. I know Houston tapped her directly while they were forming, and I thought she had been in the 2012 round table discussions that ultimately resulted in the league.
     
  20. holden

    holden Member+

    Dundee FC, Yeovil Town LFC, Girondins de Bordeaux
    Oct 20, 2009
    Los Angeles
    Club:
    Dundee FC
    Of course they didn't mention the NWSL. This was about the launch of a MLS team. They're focused 100% on promoting that right now.

    Now I'm not saying there is any certainty that they are interested in starting a NWSL team, I'm just saying that hopefully having Mia on board (in addition to Magic whose partial ownership WNBA team show he supports women's sports) means they will be open to the idea. Probably nothing will come of it. Who knows? This thread is really only about speculation at this point as there's been no news about a CA franchise since the start of the league when it was leaked that the Blues wanted to be a founding team in the league and their application was ultimately denied.

    I meant more foreground-type things. ;)
     
  21. SiberianThunderT

    Sep 21, 2008
    DC
    Club:
    Saint Louis Athletica
    Nat'l Team:
    Spain
    I definitely think they'd be open to the idea. But at least with the Blues - even after they were denied as one of the founding teams - we had evidence of interaction with MLS though the Chivas connection and such. Not to mention every once in a while we heard Naimo comment on the NWSL situation. Right now, the LAFC thing is nothing more than wishful thinking. It's particularly annoying on Twitter, where a LOT of people seem to be taking this as "the sign" that NWSL in CA will happen - unless they're part of the group that's now angry that it hasn't happened already because Mia went to MLS before NWSL. It's just... I guess I just wish people would be more realistic about what it means for two prominent LA personalities to be minority owners in a new MLS team. Even if those two are open to the idea of an NWSL club, I don't think they have much clout in the 22-person ownership group, especially with some of the personalities of the main three owners.
     
  22. holden

    holden Member+

    Dundee FC, Yeovil Town LFC, Girondins de Bordeaux
    Oct 20, 2009
    Los Angeles
    Club:
    Dundee FC
    Well it's still a bit early in the LAFC process to know if they will continue that relationship or not. It's still unknown what will happen with things like the Chivas USA youth academies. But if they were to keep them there would be at least some case to be made for the continued cross-promotion of the two.

    Oh, yes, I agree it is not a sure sign. LAFC have a lot of things they need to work on and starting a NWSL team won't be a priority. I think priority #1 is the new stadium. Any possible discussion of a NWSL team will certainly have to wait until at least that is resolved.

    I think Magic has a lot of clout with Gruber. They've had a long business relationship and Gruber seems to respect him very much. Hamm is the wildcard. The question is really, what does she bring to the ownership group? It wasn't about the money. And it's not like having her on the ownership group is gonna magically bring in fans (at least not any significant number of fans). So what is she there for? I know she recently got put on the AS Roma board... but I think it more likely that came out of the LAFC ownership connection rather than being appointed to the AS Roma board leading to her joining the LAFC ownership. So I don't think that anything can really be inferred from that appointment.
     
  23. holden

    holden Member+

    Dundee FC, Yeovil Town LFC, Girondins de Bordeaux
    Oct 20, 2009
    Los Angeles
    Club:
    Dundee FC
    Well, finally someone talked to Mia about their interest in a NWSL team.

    Quote the Mia:
     
  24. Blaze20

    Blaze20 Moderator
    Staff Member

    Seattle Reign FC
    Sep 22, 2009
    Club:
    Philadelphia Independence
  25. holden

    holden Member+

    Dundee FC, Yeovil Town LFC, Girondins de Bordeaux
    Oct 20, 2009
    Los Angeles
    Club:
    Dundee FC
    What is your definition of near term? I don't think anyone's suggesting they join for 2015. Even 2016 would be pushing it. But if they have the stadium nearly finished by launch in 2017, I see no reason why it couldn't happen then or shortly thereafter. I think launching both teams at the same time (and playing at the same venue like Portland and Houston) would be great publicity.
     

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