October 30th, 2014 was a huge day for football here in the U.S. New York Cosmos released the news that Raul, the ex-Real Madrid superstar, will be part of the team. Raul has a special long term deal with the Cosmos, where he will play for the club and after retirement work as a manager for the youth academy program. But most importantly, the MLS introduced us to a brand new franchise that will be replacing Chivas USA. This brand new franchise will give the new generation of youth an opportunity to make football the number one sport in the United States
The new franchise will be located in the area of Los Angeles, the perfect city to start a project like this, where football is played by hundreds of people around the area on a daily basis. The franchise is owned by 22 different owners, and among them are a few retired successful athletes like Magic Johnson, Nomar Garciaparra, and his wife, the legendary Mia Hamm Garciaparra. The team will be funded by a wealthy group of people that paid the MLS $100 million dollars to start the franchise. They will invest in a brand new stadium in the Los Angeles area with a capacity of approximately 25,000 people that will cost about $150 million dollars.
The team will begin competing in 2017, the same year Atlanta will also join the MLS as an expansion team. By 2020, two other teams will be joining the league. Los Angeles F.C. is the temporary name that was given to this new club, and will be bringing a new culture into the MLS as a club for the people of the Los Angeles area. Fans will play a huge role and be involved in the decisions of the club’s name, team colors, logo, etc.
With Chivas USA leaving, does that mean that their fan base will automatically turn into LAFC fans? Chivas USA grew a lot of fans in the U.S. due to the fact that those fans supported the original Chivas from Guadalajara, Mexico. LA Galaxy fans should be happy that there will be a new team in Los Angeles and that will bring competition to the city. LAFC will probably gain new fans that were never interested in the MLS until now, due to the fact that they play to make decisions based on the fans’ input. The MLS in a few years will be more competitive and interesting with new teams coming, like David Beckham’s team in Miami, and with more European players coming to the MLS.
(Featured image: LAFC)
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