Major League Soccer is poised to announce Thursday that San Diego will be home to the league’s 30th franchise, according to the British newspaper Daily Mail.
British-Egyptian billionaire Mohamed Mansour of the Mansour Group, in partnership with the Sycuan Band of the Kumeyaay Nation, is set to pay $500 million to establish the team — a new MLS record eclipsing Charlotte FC’s $325 million price tag in 2019.
The franchise would play at Snapdragon Stadium in Mission Valley beginning in 2025.
In February, MLS Commissioner Don Garber told Daily Mail that launching a 30th team was a priority and San Diego and Las Vegas were the most likely cities.
Paul Tenorio, a soccer reporter for The Athletic, told CBS News that the success of San Diego Wave FC, which joined the National Women’s Soccer League last year and set a league single-game attendance record, may be playing a part.
MLS has two conferences, Eastern and Western. Adding an expansion club in the west would even up the divide, at 15 teams per conference. California already has three franchises — the Los Angeles-based Galaxy and LAFC, and the San Jose Earthquakes.
Last week, San Diego Loyal SC Chairman and owner Andrew Vassiliadis said of his team, which is part of USL Championship, “our plan is simple. We aren’t going anywhere.”