Chivas USA to bring Hunter aboard
Chivas USA was expected as early as Monday to name longtime AEG executive Shawn Hunter as the team’s new chief executive, replacing Javier Leon, who stepped down Thursday.
Chivas co-owner Antonio Cue confirmed Friday night that the club is in the final stages of negotiation with Hunter, who most recently was president of AEG’s sports division as well as president of the Kings. Hunter left AEG a week ago, saying he wanted to focus on his own marketing and consulting firm.
Cue introduced Hunter to coaches, players and other team personnel during a dinner in Redondo Beach Friday night.
Keegan Pierce, Chivas USA’s director of communications, had said only that the team expected to make an announcement in the “next couple of days.”
Cue, speaking in Spanish, told The Times on Friday night that Hunter “is one of the best executives in the entire country, not just soccer, but in all of sports. . . . He wasn’t easy to get.”
Hunter, 44, joined AEG as chief marketing officer in 2003 and two years later was given the job of also overseeing the company’s sports operations, including the venues those teams call home -- Staples Center and the Home Depot Center.
Before joining AEG, he was president of the Phoenix Coyotes, a team that enjoyed numerous sellouts despite having poor seasons. But he first showed his marketing prowess with the Colorado Avalanche after the team moved from Quebec to Denver in 1995. Hunter helped it quickly reach 12,000 in season-ticket sales.
“The key was finding someone that had already done it and had done it well,” said Cue, referring to Hunter. “I approached him and we made a great offer.”
Cue said the offer wasn’t attractive only for the money but also for the challenge -- Chivas is on pace to suffer about a 40% drop in attendance from last season, even though the team is in second place in the Western Conference standings, two points behind Houston.
“I know people that know him and they all say wonderful things about him,” Chivas midfielder Jesse Marsch said. “Don’t know Shawn well yet, but from the outside [looking in] you hope this is a guy that can help motivate things.”
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