Chivas USA (pronounced CHEE-vahs) were an American professional soccer club based in the Greater Los Angeles area.

[4][5][6] Mexican businessman Jorge Vergara took ownership of the struggling Chivas de Guadalajara in 2002 and sought to use the rejuvenated club to establish an international brand.

[7] In June 2003, the league announced that the 2003 MLS All-Star Game would be played against Chivas and that Vergara was interested in purchasing an expansion team.

After a 1–8–1 start (their sole win coming against fellow expansion club Real Salt Lake), Thomas Rongen was named Chivas USA's sporting director and assistant coach Javier Ledesma became the club's interim head coach.

On November 7, 2007, Preki was named MLS Coach of the Year for 2007 after the first-year manager led the Red-and-White to a 15–7–8 record and first place in Major League Soccer's Western Conference.

In January 2008, Preki signed a multi-year contract with Chivas USA securing his position as head coach for the 2008 season.

[citation needed] In 2008 Chivas USA competed in their first official international tournament, playing Pachuca in the 2008 SuperLiga.

The Red-and-White clinched a playoff berth for the third consecutive season, losing to Real Salt Lake in the first round.

[citation needed] Jonathan Bornstein and Sacha Kljestan competed with the U.S. National Team in the 2009 FIFA Confederations Cup in South Africa.

During the World Cup break Kljestan signed a deal with Belgian club Anderlecht, leaving Chivas USA after parts of five seasons.

Bornstein played in the 2010 FIFA World Cup, starting in two matches for the United States as they made it to the Round of 16.

On December 14 the club's vice president of soccer operations, Stephen Hamilton revealed he too, was leaving his post.

[12] On August 29, 2012, Vergara and his wife, Angélica Fuentes, became sole owners of the club, buying out former partners Antonio and Lorenzo Cué.

[13] On May 29, 2013, two Chivas USA youth coaches, Dan Calichman and Ted Chronopoulos, filed a discrimination lawsuit against the club, on the grounds they had been dismissed because they were not Latino.

[15] However, by September 29, 2014 ESPN reported that the club would suspend operations at the end of the MLS regular season, according to multiple sources.

[16] On September 30, 2014, Grant Wahl of Sports Illustrated reported that a group of investors headed by Henry Nguyen, Los Angeles Dodgers investor Peter Guber and Cardiff City owner Vincent Tan agreed to purchase the club for a fee over $100 million.

During their tenure, this arrangement and those of the NFL's New York Giants and New York Jets in MetLife Stadium and NBA's Los Angeles Clippers and Los Angeles Lakers in the Staples Center were the only cases in the major professional sports leagues in the United States and Canada of two teams of the same league sharing a venue.

Chivas USA occasionally held home games at Titan Stadium on the campus of California State University, Fullerton, and at Harder Stadium on the campus of UC Santa Barbara, such as in the US Open Cup when both they and the Galaxy had been drawn to play at home on the same day, but this was generally a rare occurrence.

[citation needed] On May 16, 2007, Comex, Mexico's leading paint company, became Chivas USA's first presenting sponsor, with their name on the front of the jerseys.

In 2013, Chivas began the year with no local television partner; however, in August a deal was reached with KDOC (English) and MundoFOX22 KWHY-TV (Spanish) for the remainder of the 2013 season.