Another conspicuous absence was on exhibit last night at the Home Depot Center, says Ian Plenderleith of USSoccerPlayers, as Chivas USA battled D.C. United to a 2-2 draw. Granted, it was a weeknight game, but 9,306 pales badly in comparison with the crowds drawn by the Galaxy, L.A.’s other team — and even without David Beckham, the Galaxy has always drawn bigger crowds than Chivas at the Home Depot Center.
It looks like the strategy of bringing a Mexican First Division satellite the United States isn’t working. In its first two years, Chivas tried stocking its team with Mexican players — a move that was met with limited success and limited appeal, says Plenderleith. But now that Chivas has shifted its focus toward building a better team (a strategy that’s working, by the way), nobody still comes.
The failure of the satellite strategy was underscored by Thursday’s resignation of Chivas GM Javier Leon. It looks like Chivas USA just isn’t all that popular in the USA. Why? As Plenderleith says, “you can call a team Chivas, and you can dress its players up as Chivas, but you can’t convince people it actually is Chivas.” You can’t just dress a team up, slap on a logo and expect a hundred years of history to simply transfer. Some Chivas de Guadalajara fans probably find it offensive that MLS has tried to do so.