Major League Soccer Commissioner Don Garber pulled the plug on its Los Angeles franchise Chivas USA Monday and said it will announce a new ownership group Thursday, Oct. 30 that will field a new club beginning with the 2015 season.
The news came a day after MLS released data that showed average attendance at MLS games grew 2.25 percent to reach a record 19,147 in 2014 despite the poor performance by Chivas USA, where average attendance plummeted from 14,000 to about 7,000 this season.
The Seattle Sounders again led the league with average attendance of 43,734. Toronto FC came in a distance second at 22,086.
The decision on Chivas USA was made unanimously by the MLS Board of Governors, after a comprehensive review of the Leagues strategy for the Los Angeles market. As a result of this decision, the League will play with 20 clubs in the 2015 season.
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, said MLS Commissioner Don Garber.
With the addition of Orlando City SC and New York City FC in 2015, MLS will have 20 clubs for the leagues 20th season and will feature a new conference alignment. Most notably, the Houston Dynamo and 2013 MLS Cup Champions Sporting Kansas City will move to the Western Conference, creating two 10-team conferences. The 2015 conference assignments are as follows:
Eastern Conference
Chicago Fire
Columbus Crew SC
D.C. United
Montreal Impact
New England Revolution
New York City FC
New York Red Bulls
Orlando City SC
Philadelphia Union
Toronto FC
Western Conference
Colorado Rapids
FC Dallas
Houston Dynamo
Sporting Kansas City
LA Galaxy
Portland Timbers
Real Salt Lake
San Jose Earthquakes
Seattle Sounders FC
Vancouver Whitecaps FC
For the 2015 season, the 20 teams will each play 34 games during the regular season. Clubs will play each team in the opposing conference once for five home and five away matches. Clubs will play each of their nine conference opponents at least twice (one home, one away), plus six additional intra-conference games — three home and three away.
