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Major League Soccer announced this morning that the Chivas USA franchise will cease operations, effective immediately. But the news is couched in a tease for another announcement to come Thursday about "a new strategy for the Los Angeles market…The League will announce a new MLS Los Angeles club and ownership group. The new club will begin play in 2017."
LANG's Nick Green has more at 100% Soccer. Chivas USA won its final game on Sunday at StubHub Center, 1-0 over San Jose.
From Sports Illustrated:
As a result, MLS will be a 20-team league next year. Newcomers Orlando City and New York City FC will join the Eastern Conference while Sporting Kansas City and the Houston Dynamo – which have combined to claim the past three Eastern titles – will move to the Western Conference. In 2017, Atlanta and the new Los Angeles club will join the league, boosting membership to 22.
MLS plans to announce plans for LA2 on Thursday. As reported last month by SI.com, the new club will be owned by an investor group led by Vietnamese-American businessman Henry Nguyen. He’ll be joined by several minority partners, including Los Angeles Dodgers and Golden State Warriors co-owner Peter Guber and Cardiff City owner Vincent Tan, among others.
