Major League Soccer has reached a deal agreement with Mohamed Mansour and the Sycuan Band of the Kumeyaay Nation worth $500m.
The team is reportedly to commence playing at Snapdragon Stadium, the home of San Diego State University, in 2025.
The MLS has been looking at expansion for a 30th club and it’s now certain it will be in San Diego.
Egyptian billionaire and Tory treasurer Mohamed Mansour is set to buy the expansion rights for a club in San Diego for $500 million.
League commissioner Don Garber said that the city that would get the expansion spot would be announced ahead of the season.
Areas like Las Vegas and Sacramento are in the mix while all signs are pointing to California getting a fourth team.
This new franchise would be the most recent in the city after NWSL club San Diego Wave was established in 2021 and joined the MLS in 2022.
California already has LA Galaxy, Los Angeles FC, and San Jose Earthquakes and San Diego club will be the latest to be added.
The expectation as well as the official announcement in regards to the development is slated to come up later on Thursday, 18th May.
There will be other men’s professional clubs in the town as well, including the San Diego Loyal, whose executive vice president of operations is Landon Donovan, a former player for the USMNT.
However, as the new club San Diego Loyal compete in the USL Championship, there will surely be a room for them to cohabit in the Major League Soccer.
Reports have it that the new club will be owned by Mansour and the federally recognized tribe Sycuan Band of the Kumeyaay Nation.
Sycuan Band of the Kumeyaay Nation is an indigenous American tribe reportedly said to have been in the San Diego area for more than 12,000 years.
This however is not Mohamed Mansour’s first move into club ownership as he is the major owner of Danish club Nordsjaelland which could create a partnership with a San Diego MLS franchise.
Danish players have previously succeeded in Major League Soccer, an example is Hany Mukhtar who moved from Brondby to Nashville SC.
The supposes partnerships can always make a difference in expansion teams settling well in a league.
St. Louis City SC is the most recent club to join the league and are currently third on the log table in the Western Conference after a difficult season.
San Diego Royal is expected to start playing in 2025 while using the Snapdragon Stadium which is owned by San Diego State University.
Major League Soccer
Major League Soccer (MLS) is a men’s professional soccer league overseen by the United States Soccer Federation, which represents the sport’s highest level in the United States.
The MLS comprises 29 teams—26 in the U.S. and 3 in Canada—since the 2023 season. The league is headquartered in Midtown Manhattan.
The Major League Soccer is the most recent in a series of men’s premier professional national soccer leagues established in the United States and Canada.
The predecessor of MLS was the North American Soccer League (NASL), which previously existed from 1968 until 1984.
The MLS was established in 1993 as a part of the United States’ successful bid to host the 1994 FIFA World Cup.
Who Is Mohamed Mansour?
Mohamed Mansour is an Egyptian billionaire businessman and former politician who was born in January 1948.
He is currently the chairman of Mansour Group, a US$6 billion conglomerate – Forbes estimated the Egyptian’s wealth at $2.9 billion in late November 2019.
Mansour is a married man with two kids and he resides in Mayfair in London.
