[MLS SPOTLIGHT] Jorge Vergara and wife Angelica Fuentes have bought out theirpartners, Antonio and Lorenzo Cue, taking back control of Chivas USA, the club they launched in 2004 with the hope thatit would be an American version of Chivas Guadalajara, the popular Mexican club they own.
The Cue brothers have run the day-to-day operations of Chivas USA, which has never totallysucceeded with its original goal.
It enjoyed some success under Bob Bradley and Preki but has struggled in recent years and in the shadow of the Los Angeles area club, the Galaxy.
“We are thrilled to acquire the remaining 50 percent of Chivas USA,” said Fuentes. “We are very excited about the future that Chivas USA will have.”
With a modestfollowing and without a stadium of its own, Chivas USA has often been mentioned as the future target of ownership groups seeking to buy and relocate an existing club once MLS has decided it hasreached its ceiling on the number of clubs in the league.
Vergara and Fuentes own Omnilife Group.
Vergara didn’t get rich by being stupid. He must have decided 1) he needs to sell the team outright, 2) relocate, or 3) go all in MLS 2.0 and put down serious coin for a new LA area SSS coinciding with a re-brand. Either way, this is long past due. Fans of MLS should be cheering this.
Vergara and Cue as owners have been terrible in that their cheapness has hobbled a club that plays in the shadow of the extravagant AEG-sponsored Galaxy w/ its 3 DP players. After losing Guzan, Kledjstan and Bornstein they really haven’t been able to replace with quality players although the Agudelo acquisition was promising and the GK Kennedy is good. Preki did a good job with what he had but he knew that the future was not bright given the unwillingness of the ownership group to spend $$ to improve the team. One other thing, they need to lose the ‘USA’ tag and give the club a real sense of attachment and identity where it plays in Greater Los Angeles. Chivas Los Angeles and Chivas Guadalajara make sense, the generic “Chivas USA” makes no sense.
How about LA Goats? although LA area is not famous for goats. It might work better.
Totally agree with mr. Huff … He couldn’t have said it any better!!
Mr.kerry … Like ur idea!! LA goats. There u go mr vergara….
If you subscribe to the AEG/Galaxy fiscal mentality, the more money you spend, the better your team will be. Unfortunately, you will also run in the ‘red’ year after year. Before the acquistion of Beckham, Angel, Keane and the massive salary hike given to Donovan (was that really worth it?) the Galaxy were profitable for several years. Chivas however, will never be profitable while they rent from AEG/Galaxy, as ticket sales are split 40-60 (Chivas/AEG). They also get virtually 0% of concessions (12oz Beer=$9) and parking ($25-$40 per space!) When your income cannot even cover your fixed expenses, everytime you spend an additional million dollars on a player, you are losing another $1 million! As most of the MLS teams that are profitable (or are close to profitable) have found, the 1st step towards profitablity is owning your own stadium. Chivas needs to move away from the dark shadow of AEG!