Why LA Galaxy Supporters Are Boycotting The Club: Andrew Alesana
The president of the LA Riot Squad on embarrassing new lows for LA Galaxy soccer, how secrecy is 'the M.O. of this F.O.,' and how fans can save the club
Andrew Alesana is president of the Los Angeles Riot Squad, one of the supporters’ groups that have united in protest of the extension of suspended LA Galaxy President Chris Klein. Andrew stopped by to talk about the first-of-its-kind boycott ahead of the Galaxy’s 2023 home opener, the embarrassing new lows for LA Galaxy soccer, his vision for the future of the club, and how fans can save the most decorated club in MLS history from those currently running it.
Full audio:
Selected text edited for clarity:
Joie Galactique: Why have LA Galaxy supporters’ groups decided to boycott this season?
Andrew Alesana: Mostly because we’re just tired of the ineptitude and shady dealings with the front office. The way they announced Klein - they still haven’t really announced it - was sort of a slap in the face to the fans. They knew it would be an unpopular thing - the #KleinOut stuff on social media has been happening for over two years now.
I think they knew it was unpopular and I think they hid it in that way. It took Kevin Baxter being kind of a pest - that’s his words. He asked them every day for two weeks, since January 1st, and they finally just slipped something in. It came out at 8:30 [pm] on a Thursday - I’m sure they sent it to him at 5 o’ clock at the end of the day and then he wrote up that article. So we were all just kind of tired of it.
Me and two of the [other supporters’ group] presidents had talked after the sanctions came out. We were like, ‘hey, we gotta do something - maybe we’ll walk out a game or we’ll protest.’ We all decided collectively, truly collectively - let’s just boycott. Let’s just stop giving them money.
As President of the LA Riot Squad, how would you describe the accountability and communication from the club - with you, supporters’ groups, and all fans of the team?
Andrew Alesana: There are definitely things that I find out that other people don’t, or it never gets out, and there are definitely things that they communicate well. I think the team they have in place for fan engagement, which used to be supporter relations, is good. I like them, they’re good people. But it goes beyond them.
The communication at the club, even within departments, is bad. Communicating within the whole structure of AEG sounds bad. And that seeps out through everything - whether it’s telling fans what’s going on about injuries, front office executives, player signings, things like that - it’s obviously pretty poor. There’s a fanbase hungry for information and they don’t do anything to feed into that.
Are you surprised the club has said literally nothing about Chris Klein this offseason except for two lines in a Kevin Baxter article? Should we be surprised?
Andrew Alesana: We shouldn’t be surprised, because that’s how it’s been. That’s their M.O. - just don’t say anything whenever there’s an issue. When things come up between us and LAFC, they let everyone else run with the story. Or even just within [the club] - they just let other people run with the story and don’t do anything to get out in front of it.
So I’m not surprised. I’ve personally talked to Chris Klein since this happened, and I told him, ‘You have to say something.’ He basically told me, ‘I’m gonna be around,’ which we figured out after he sent us an email. And I was like, ‘OK, if you’re the guy then tell people that. You have to let people know.’ And they still haven’t said anything.
So I shouldn’t be surprised, but it is the M.O. - that is the M.O. of this F.O.
“Per club policy, we don’t disclose employment terms. Chris Klein is the LA Galaxy’s President and he will resume full responsibilities at the close of the winter transfer window.”
- LA Galaxy statement on the status of suspended President Chris Klein, through Kevin Baxter of the LA Times, January 12, 2013
It seems like extremely poor leadership from any organization to hide in the shadows when people are protesting your involvement. Can you say anything more about what Mr. Klein has said to you? What is holding him back from being straight up - you know, what is the vision? What is the plan?
Andrew Alesana: I don’t think they have one. I don’t think they have a vision, I don’t think they have an answer or a plan. I know this caught them off guard. What I can say is that they sent an email asking for us to meet again after we met with [AEG President] Dan [Beckerman], and he had a three-item action thing. One was revolving around education about his role, and one was sort of just ‘here’s Vanney.’ And it was very obvious that it was just dangling Vanney in front of us like, ‘you guys like him, I know you guys like him.’ And he speaks well enough on this subject that they feel they can just trot him out to answer questions, and that’s not acceptable to us.
What [Klein] wanted was to meet on the day of a game - I think it was the first preseason game. We said no, because one: we wanted Vanney to focus on the game, obviously. And then two: to me, personally, we met with Dan and he heard us out. What are we meeting Chris for? It’s like we’re going backwards, to me.
And then also, I told him in the email that these actions are a joke. They just don’t get it. They don’t understand the problems, and that’s the biggest problem. They don’t seem them as failing. I don’t think they see a problem with Herbalife as a sponsor. I don’t think they see a problem with another team coming into their market and just outmarketing them - almost doing everything better than them - and they don’t see that as a problem. And that’s the biggest problem, is that they can’t see the problems that are laid bare.
There are more and more people who think of the Galaxy as secondary in its own market despite being the most successful club in league history. You’ve said the Galaxy under Klein has become “embarrassing” - in what other ways has the way the club has evolved embarrassing to you?
Andrew Alesana: We’ve had embarrassing seasons - the Wooden Spoon season was our worst season as a club. We’ve had embarrassing mishaps with the Pavon issue, whatever that was - they don’t like to call it cheating. The Galaxy don’t want us to call it cheating. So I won’t call it cheating, I’ll do their bidding - not cheating, but whatever the Pavon issue was.
We’ve had embarrassments with an academy coach using his brother to basically pillage talent from our team without any compensation to go to Europe, and now a lot of those players aren’t doing anything. There’s a lot of little things, but there’s also big things that would have gotten any other executive at a serious club fired. And we’ve only rewarded it - we’ve continued to reward it.
The Galaxy plays its first home game of the season this Saturday vs. the Vancouver Whitecaps. What’s going down at Legends Plaza before the home opener this Saturday?
Andrew Alesana: I’m hoping that we can get as many people as possible - and I’m not limiting this to just supporters’ groups, but every Galaxy fan. If you’re upset about the way things are being run, show up at 6:30. Bring your voice, bring a sign if you want - be there an hour before kickoff. We’re going to protest - be as loud as possible. Just come and lend your voice. Show your frustration. If we can get as many people in that plaza as possible, it’s something that would catch their eye. I want everyone to come - all Galaxy fans, it’s not just a supporter group thing.
How do you explain the boycott to fans who just want to support the players?
Andrew Alesana: I have no problem with that. I’ve made it my mission to not try to make it an us-or-them them type situation. I understand that there’s people who are going to have a hard time not going - I’m going to have a hard time not going. I’ve been a season ticket holder since 2007, been going to games since 2005 - since I’ve been a season ticket holder I’ve maybe missed one or two games a season.
It’s my home, it’s my happy place, it’s where I’ve gone to relieve stress and get away from the world, so I understand anybody who doesn’t want to give that up. But at the same time, enough’s enough. We’ve sat through ten years of this. Obviously since 2007, I’ve seen some good years, but it’s been far and few between since Klein has taken over and become president. And we’ve seen a lot of bad years. I just hope that everyone who’s a Galaxy fan can come to this agreement that at the very least we can agree on one thing - that we like the Galaxy and we want to see change. If you want to go support after the protest, I have no problems with that. But if you’re upset, come protest with us.
Obviously there’s people who think that us not showing up is not supporting the players. But the real action for us is, ‘hey, if they’re extending him because he made profits of $4 million last year, which came out last year - then let’s take that away.’ That’s the whole point of boycotting, not showing up, not buying merch - let’s take that monetary crutch that he’s being held up on as the reason why he’s here. If he’s not making money, then there should be no excuse to keep him, right?
Me, by myself - it doesn’t affect much. But if we get as many people as possible to do that, then obviously that affects something. Supporters not buying beer inside - I know at the very least it’s going to hurt Levy [Restaurants]. If it’s what we have to do, it’s what we have to do. In my mind, we’re doing this to save the club.
What is one of your favorite LARS memories at a game?
Andrew Alesana: Well, recently, that Dejan goal.
The LARS lift!
Andrew: The LARS lift. That was a really cool moment - it just kind of came out of nowhere. He says he didn’t expect us to pull him up, but he was pulling our arms. I was just trying to give him a high five, and then we grabbed hands and he pulled, so we just pulled him up.
Obviously Zlatan’s debut. The first LAFC game is always going to live in everybody’s hearts. I took a road trip with Chris Tucker and Ed Rodriguez, the Squadcast guys, and another friend of mine up to Seattle for the 09 MLS Cup Final. That was a lot of fun - it was a great trip regardless of the result, which was the only damper on it.
I’ve got tons of memories. I’ve made a lot of friends that will be lifelong friends at the Galaxy. It’s hard to pick one thing, you know?
If you were President of the LA Galaxy, what would your vision for the future of the club be?
Andrew Alesana: It’s something that I asked Klein when we talked, and asked him last year too - ‘what is our identity as a club?’ He kind of answered, and I just told him, ‘it’s sign big players and win.’ We haven’t been doing the second part, and signing big players is shallow - that’s not what creates long-lasting fans or keeps people in seats. Yeah, you’re going to get a bump when Gio Dos Santos or Chicharito comes, but when those players either stop playing well or they leave, you’re constantly looking for that bump. So you’re almost like a drug addict of some sort, you’re constantly looking for that bump. That’s not what’s going to keep long-lasting people.
I would completely change the culture. I would try my best to make it a people’s club. I would try my best to ingratiate the fans, give access to the stadium and the people that work there. There’s very much an us vs. them mentality with us in the front office - not just supporters groups, but fans. You may know your ticket rep, you may know a person that works in the foundation - I’m an exception who knows maybe ten people in the front office somewhat well. Not a lot of people have that, I can tell you not a lot of LARS members have that, and I know for a fact a lot of the people outside of supporters’ groups don’t have that.
We need to break that down - this barrier. It should all be one club. We should all be one mindset, one people. We all want the same things. And I do believe Chris Klein does love the club, and he does want the same things - obviously he wants to win. But I just don’t think he knows how to go about doing that, and he hasn’t done anything concrete to create a culture of that sort of club where everybody’s together, we’re all in it.
Follow Andrew at @samoabob on Twitter, and the LA Riot Squad at @lariotsquad.
The Chris Klein era at the LA Galaxy, at-a-glance:
The team’s ability to sign players this summer is handicapped because of a 2019 cheating scandal; meanwhile, suspended president Chris Klein quietly renewed his contract this past offseason. No details have been released.
The Galaxy currently find themselves in the longest cup drought in club history, winning just two playoff games in the last five years, while last winning MLS Cup in 2014.
In that time period, four head coaches and three general managers have been sacked or left; meanwhile Klein and technical director Jovan Kirovski remain constants in the front office.
Klein signed a five-year extension after the Galaxy “won” the 2017 Wooden Spoon for worst club in MLS.