During lean times is not the ideal situation to make major front-office moves, said Chivas USA president and co-owner Antonio Cue. Rather, he said, prosperous times require bold moves in order to continue progressing.
The timing was right on many levels, Cue said.
"When we planned this thing, we were very clear we had a five-year project," Cue said prior to Thursday's match against D.C. United. "We set our goals at a three-year period with him and now we need to take this company and this club to the next level."
Leon was one of the first people aboard when Chivas USA was founded in 2004. The club's only CEO, Leon also took over general manager duties when Whit Haskel stepped down in the preseason.
Now, however, the club is more stable than it was during its first year of operation and change was necessary to advance the club forward, Cue said.
"You don't do changes when everything is bad. You do changes when things are good, going well and you have to adjust things. That's the reason behind it," Cue said.
Since the start, Cue has talked about having a team that is competing for MLS Cup every season. In Year Two, Chivas USA reached the playoffs for the first time and was within a half-hour of reaching the Western Conference final but fell to eventual champions Houston.
This season, the club sits on an 11-6-4 mark and is within two points of first-place Houston heading into Sunday's home game against New York.
On the business side, Chivas USA inked a sponsorship deal with Mexican paint company Comex. The club announced the deal as a multiyear, multimillion-dollar agreement though specific terms were not announced.
Despite suffering through a four-win season in 2005, Chivas USA hit the ground running in terms of sponsors. The club has had globally recognizable sponsors on board from the start and this year has among its ranks such corporations as McDonald's, Honda, Corona and Disneyland, among others.
Leon was instrumental in bringing such high-profile sponsors aboard.
Having a successful club on and off the field is important to Cue.
"I'm so committed to this league. I want to have the best front office," he said. "It took me three years... to have one of the top teams in the league and I want to have the same thing in the front office. Javier's role has been important but we need to move forward over the next two years. After five years, I better be at the top with both of them."
"On the business side Javier has achieved to have the second ... most sponsors in the league behind the Galaxy and obviously we all know the Galaxy had a great boost because of Beckham," Cue said. "Since we arrived we have been on the top of sponsors."
With Leon on his way out, Cue said he already had a replacement in mind and would announce the move sometime next week.
"I will guarantee you one thing: This is probably one of the biggest things this franchise will do in (its) history," Cue said.
Although he said everything is in place, Cue declined to reveal Leon's replacement. Cue added that the new CEO would pave the way for many stunning developments in the upcoming months.
"If someone was surprised with what happened with Beckham, they will be surprised of the many things we want to do, not only with players," Cue said. "This is just thinking on long term and a guy who has delivered, can deliver and will deliver."
One aspect that Cue said needs improvement is the attendance. Despite fielding one of the best clubs in MLS, Chivas USA had the third-lowest average attendance before Thursday's match. The club has drawn more than 20,000 just once in its history, not counting matches against Home Depot Center co-tenants LA Galaxy.
However, said that lagging attendance figures did not prompt Leon's exit.
"When you are in a city like LA it takes time to build a fan base. Time will tell but obviously there is a challenge there, a challenge to bring in more people," Cue said. "The place is a little far from many of our fans, it's hard to get here, it's not really the cheapest place in town but it's a great facility. We need to make sure we have to fill it out. On that, I would say we have a lot to do. But that's not the reason behind it."
Cue said that the club would announce the move on Monday.
"That's a time we think is the right time to make the announcement. Everything is in place but we just want to do it when the time is the right time. As I said, you don't rush to do things," he said. "I did it the first year. I made crazy moves the first year. This year I am making a move to make sure that this company ... achieves what it has to achieve; an institution that is successful in every aspect."
Luis Bueno is a contributor to MLSnet.com. This story was not subject to the approval of Major League Soccer or its clubs.
