Re: Chivas USA Shouldn't Exist Try again partner! The Lesbion 1908 hinchadita hasn't turned up in Houston at all in 2007. They came out in 2006 and of course saw a loss every time for Rebrandus Sagrado, but in 2007 those supporters you speak of rock star have completely disappeared. That's how pathetic the support is for Chivas Half-Breed in Texas.
Re: Chivas USA Shouldn't Exist A real question to pose to you all, do you think if Chivas built their own stadium that this problem will vanish? Or do you think that an identity change away from Chivas and embracing LATIN players in general would help more?
Re: Attendance: 9,306.. ESPN "F"ed us again. That shoulda been done and FFS Vergara should have been soccer savy enough to not brand the team with the exact crest, colors and jersey. Simply put from the other thread....CHIVAS USA no existe senyores! He should have given birth to perhaps a L.A. Chivas that has Raideresk colors like black and white with perhaps the red and white look reserved for 'away' jerseys. Thus if Vergara really wanted to gather Shitvas support away from L.A. then its the red and white stripes that are worn away from the HDC. Even more clever woulda been LOS ANGELES written in Old English script on their gear and a logo more urban, more East L.A. Like the lowrider philosophy where you see Gonzalez wrtten out in big ass print on the tint in Old English. I' mean if you are gonna be close minded and arogant enough to claim a brand and team like CHIVAS USA will capture the hearts and minds of the city of L.A. and all the millions of Mexican footy die hards then be smart enough to get the crest, colors and synergy between your target market and the half breed club you are trying to create. It shows that a guy like Vergara didn't make his millions from pro futbol.
Re: Chivas USA Shouldn't Exist The Chivas brand is announcing to the world that they are a half assed version of the real thing. Mexicans aren't stupid. They know that when they watch Ante Razov, he is not one of their own. As far as jealousy is concerned, please. This is about the health of the league. If you think I'm complaining about Chivas because they are kicking our azz on the field..well EVERYONE is. Houston, DC, Toronto, Colorado, even RSL are good for the league. They thrive. This experiment is dying. 9,000 fans is comparable to a high school football game or a lacrosse game. This is bad for MLS, and everyone knows it. I can guarantee ESPN will never come back to a Chivas home game unless it is against the Galaxy. Should they move? Absolutely, and get rid of the name. Establish tradition for yourself. If this team was Philly SC, PHX SC, or the Seattle Sounders, they would have played in front of 20k minimum. LA's team is the Galaxy. Fake Chivas is no one's team. There were more people at the ESPN ZONE at Disney watching NFL last night then in that stadium. And LA's soccer fans were at home with their blue jerseys in the closet.
Re: Chivas USA Shouldn't Exist I would Have hundreds of TRUE fans than thousands of Galaxy fans. Your racist fans scream like pigs whenever a grown man touches himself. The girls scream too. Emaberassing!
Re: Chivas USA Shouldn't Exist I would say in all honestly, if I was a Chivas fan I wouldn't feel very secure about my teams future. After all we're in a MLS age where teams are selling for $30m and expansion fees are $25m+ and there seem to be no shortage of interested markets. Once we hit 16 teams, these markets that missed out might be an attractive destination for Chivas if they continue to draw just 10k and don't seem to have much of a purpose. I wish very much for Chivas USA to be a success but it seems to have taken a real step backwards the last year as far as acceptance of its target audience is concerned.
Re: Chivas USA Shouldn't Exist Modified your post to more closely resemble what Donovan would probably do in light of his last two PK's.
Re: Chivas USA Shouldn't Exist Explaining that to Galaxy fans is a lost cause. The majority of them still claim that the Galaxy have been superior to United over the life of the league primarily based upon the fact that they have a stadium and higher attendance ........... you know, despite that tricky fact that they've won 3 LESS pieces of hardware, not including the u-17 championship and the reserve championship. Living in that fantasy world there is no surprise that the thread starter went down the path he went.
Re: Chivas USA Shouldn't Exist Calm down there, buddy. If you, and others, took the time to visit HDC for a G's home game, you would notice that the fans are very diverse, racially and financially, despite the increasing numbers of Beckhamoid teens. And if by "TRUE fans" you mean Legion 1908 that abandons CDCUSA when Guadalajara is in town, then continue reveling in your false perception of all that is Chivas USA support.
Re: Attendance: 9,306.. ESPN "F"ed us again. Chivas USA is a nice travelling circus act, but outside of the superclassico they struggle to draw much more than Kansas City
Re: Chivas USA Shouldn't Exist I always thought Chivas USA was a poor idea. The best part about sport is how a team can unite people of all different economic and racial backgrounds. Chivas USA basically throws that whole concept out the window not to mention it makes MLS look like a minor league getting the second rate form of Chivas. I would love to see the owners fold shop and sell the team to another city.
Re: Chivas USA Shouldn't Exist I dont think this topic has to do with what L.A. team (Galaxy/Chivas) has the best record or the most "W's". Obvisouly we are seeing that Chivas USA is the better team this season. I will also admit that Chivas USA does indeed play exciting soccer, but the point here is on how it is not able to attract or elevate attendance. Look at how poor the numbers really are game after game: April------------------------------------------------------------------------ 04/07 - Saturday Toronto FC CHV 2-0 TOR 14,351 04/21 - Saturday Real Salt Lake CHV 4-0 RSL 11,253 May------------------------------------------------------------------------ 05/20 - Sunday Los Angeles Galaxy CHV 1-1 LA 27,000 05/26 - Saturday FC Dallas CHV 2-0 DAL 8,756 June----------------------------------------------------------------------- 06/16 - Saturday Colorado Rapids CHV 2-0 COL 10,490 06/30 - Saturday New England Revolution CHV 2-0 NE 9,028 July------------------------------------------------------------------------ 07/14 - Saturday Columbus Crew CHV 2-1 CLB 10,214 August--------------------------------------------------------------------- 08/26 - Sunday Real Salt Lake CHV 1-0 RSL 11,217 September ----------------------------------------------------------------- 09/06 - Thursday D.C. United CHV 2-2 DC 9,306 __________________________________________________________________ The main point here is, Is it hurting MLS attendance? The answer is yes! We could refuse to accept the facts and retaliate on how poor the Galaxy is playing and how bad its making MLS look bad but the signning of Beckham, the famous injured ankle, the losing streak is all generating so much media attention that more and more individuals are becoming Galaxy fans, more people want to hear and read about the Galaxy. All these dilemas and headlines have put the Galaxy in front page of many newspapers. So yes, all of Los Angeles and the world knows that we suck and we will not make the playoffs but just last week we managed to sell out the long anticapated " Battle for the biggest Loser BowL" (RSL/Galaxy), which we managed to lose, but hey win or lose, people comeback and thats something Chivas USA is lacking.
Re: Chivas USA Shouldn't Exist Watching Chivas makes me think, despite how good they are, their days might be numbered. They really dont have any identity and as I said in another thread, struggle to attract any mexican fans (most of who follow MFL). I really think they need a major *MAJOR*, rebranding and quickly, or they will be moved/disbanded.
Re: Attendance: 9,306.. ESPN "F"ed us again. It's a shame really because Chivas is having a banner year and oculd advance far into the playoffs. Maybe they just need to get away from LA. An earlier poster said that a move to San Diego might be better for the team, and the league could always use another SSS (that is if Vergara would be willing to pay for one the 2nd time around.) Maybe attendance will be better once Club America enters the league--believe me sooner or later it's gonna happen. Once that happens there will be a US version of the mexcian clasico which is bound to stir up passion and fan interest---maybe....(at least that's what the league hopes...)
Re: Chivas USA Shouldn't Exist I was going to move this thread to RIVALRIES, but thought I would provide an intelligent reply instead. I watched last night's game on the edge of my seat. I enjoyed the enthusiasm on the crowd - sparse though it was, and the game on the field! I have no problem with the name - after all there is an Austria Vienna, and there was an Austria Salzburg until Red Bull bought it and changed the name. Hopefully a new GM will help the attendance problem. Since MLS doesn't own Chivas, it will be up to the owners to decide what if anything needs to be done on the financial side of the picture. LA Galaxy fans need to get on with some other rant. And I know, it's not all of you looking for problems in others' houses!
Re: Chivas USA Shouldn't Exist Not really. The rent they're paying isn't preventing them from marketing the team, AFAICT, and location-wise, Carson is as close to heavily Latino areas as anywhere in SoCal... As much as they were piggy-backing on the Mexie-snobbery thing, Vergara was trying sell them as pan-latino alternative to the team that employed two of the best Central American players of the last 20 years. However, going gabacho (+ one Cuban) is what's made them a decent team, so that might not be the best approach...
Re: Chivas USA Shouldn't Exist If rebranding, you mean change the name, and location, and lose the whole idea of: "lets put a latin product on the field so we get all the Mexican fans to show up in droves" then I agree. It doesnt work. Thats why pandering to latin communities or any other ethnic group through gimmicks like this usually fail.
Re: Chivas USA Shouldn't Exist Haha. Their definitely trying to wag the dog so people stop talking about how much of a disaster their team is.
Re: Chivas USA Shouldn't Exist I tend to think that getting their own SSS would actually make a big difference. Right now, they are completely in the shadow of the Galaxy and the only thing differentiating them is that they are "Chivas" and some nominal appeal to Meicans who root for Guadalajara. Yes, winning is a good thing, but why should random soccer fan in LA root for Chivas over the more established team with all the glitz? The answer IMHO is to have them develop their own identity somewhere else in the greater LA region. I like the oft reported idea of Pomona because it's still close to East LA (and the city in general) but woulld help to bring in fans from the Inland Empire as well -- IOW, it would help them bring in fans who might not otherwise go to Carson to see a match. Two teams in a city works much better when the teams are in different area -- witness Angels/Dodgers, Cubs/White Sox, Devils/Rangers/Islanders and Mets/Yankees (teams with distanct fans) versus Lakers/Clippers (one team a clear "second"/afterthought). (And, yes, I'm aware of the Jets/Giants counterexample, but I don't think you can use the NF to say much about other sports in the US.) Forgive me if my geography of the region is off, but my point stands that being in a different geographical part of the LA metro area with it's poor traffic would help to distinguish Chivas
Re: Chivas USA Shouldn't Exist Since we lost the game we won the title of biggest losers, so at least we won something! As to Chivas, I think there are actually two lessons to draw. The first is that they have been successful by MLS standards in attracting hard-core fans (La Legion). However, they have not been so successful in attracting casual fans and families. And while these groups tend to be denigrated on BigSoccer, they actually make up the bulk of the soccer market in MLS. Second, ethnic pandering is a tricky thing. In year 1 they were promoted as a "Mexican" team. Now they're a "Latino" team. People act as if it's the same thing, but it isn't. And it still leaves out a lot of the market. They should be taking away a lot of the business of the Galaxy, but how they branded themselves in the first year is coming back to haunt them. It's too bad that Chivas didn't make the US club the "international" version of Chivas. They would have kept La Legion while making the team a whole lot more inclusive.
Re: Chivas USA Shouldn't Exist From my understanding the HDC is in East LA or if not it was very close. I remember after a couple minutes drive North from the stadium on city streets I was in Compton. Could someone on these boards who is familiar with LA please clarify this?
Re: Chivas USA Shouldn't Exist Houston.................................39 ChivasUSA...........................37 The Red Sea RSL......................................18 GayLaxy.............................14