Details emerge on the ownership qualifications for Chivas USA suitors

By Nicholas MendolaAug 12, 2014, 3:36 PM EDT
5 Comments

One of the great MLS mysteries going is the fate of Chivas USA, long-rumored to be on the road to Los Angeles SC or some other rebranding to put the club in better big market positioning.

But what we haven’t known is who would be our new Los Angeles overlords. What are the qualifications for suitors to the Chivas USA throne (so to speak)?

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The Goat Parade did some digging into a speech from current Goats president Nelson Rodriguez.

Here’s what they came away with:

While he acknowledged, “It’s difficult to move forward with plans for 2015. What colors will the team be? What will its name be? What are the values of the club?” he did provide some more detail on the ownership requirements:

  1. The club stays in Los Angeles
  2. The group that buys the club must make a commitment to build a new stadium in Los Angeles
  3. The managing director of the club must work and live in Los Angeles
While Rodriguez doesn’t indicate where the requirements come from, one must assume his boss, Major League Soccer, which of course owns the team following their purchase of it from Jorge Vergara and Angelica Fuentes in February, laid down those mandates.
There are more facets and moving parts to this rebrand that perhaps any in recent major sports history. For one thing, there’s what an effective rebrand could mean to the crosstown rival Galaxy. And, as evidenced by the rise of the L.A. Clippers in the NBA, the power in a major town can certainly shift.
The manager who ‘must live and work in Los Angeles’ seems more a shot at the former state of the club than any major point in the discussion, and it serves to say that the Club That Will Soon Be Formerly Known As Chivas USA (Prince symbol: Goat) is going to be a fixture in L.A. That’s decent news.