MLS made it official on Monday, shuttering Chivas USA after 10 largely disappointing seasons, both on and off the field. In its place will come a new Los Angeles-based club, which will be formally announced on Thursday.
“As part of our new strategy for Southern California — a major hotbed of soccer participation and fan support — we believe that engaging with a new ownership group which has the resources and local community ties, and a plan for a dedicated soccer-specific stadium, provides us with the best chance for success,” MLS Commissioner Don Garber said in a statement released by the league.
The new Los Angeles team, which will have no ties to Chivas USA past, will begin play in 2017, joining the Atlanta expansion team in an expansion class that will bring the league to a total of 22 teams. Details on the new Los Angeles team’s ownership group and stadium plans will be revealed on Thursday.
MLS will conduct a dispersal draft for Chivas USA’s players some time before December, with details of the dispersal draft still being sorted out. Despite finishing with the fourth-worst record in MLS, Chivas USA has several talented players who will be highly sought after, including Mexican national team striker Erick Torres and veteran goalkeeper Dan Kennedy.
Chivas USA is being shut down completely, with its successful youth academy system set to complete the current academy season, which concludes in 2015, before also being closed.
MLS also announced its plans for realignment in 2015, with Sporting Kansas City and the Houston Dynamo heading to the Western Conference beginning in 2015. New York City FC and Orlando City will begin play in the Eastern Conference next year.
In 2015, the 20 MLS teams will play 34 games during the regular season, with each team in the opposing conference once for five home and five away matches. Teams will play each of their nine conference opponents at least twice (one home, one away), with six additional intra-conference games — three home and three away — being included.
The realignment looks like a bonus for Eastern Conference teams, with defending MLS Cup champion Sporting KC moving over to the already-stacked West. The Dynamo return to the Western Conference after having previously been in the West prior to moving to the East to make room for the then-expansion Portland Timbers and Vancouver Whitecaps in 2011. Houston's move back West will also mean more meetings against Texas rival FC Dallas, as well as more meetings with the San Jose Earthquakes, who will be coached by now former Dynamo head coach Dom Kinnear.