(Los Angeles) A new team based in San Diego, California, will join Major League Soccer (MLS) from the 2025 season.
Egyptian-British billionaire Mohamed Mansour paid MLS a record expansion fee of US$500 million to secure the creation of this 30th franchise, a source familiar with the matter reported.
“We scoured the globe for the right opportunity in football, and San Diego ticked all the boxes,” said Mohamed Mansour, 75, who leads the Mansour Group.
The San Diego franchise will debut in the 2025 season and play at Snapdragon Stadium, a newly built 35,000-seat stadium in the city of approximately 1.4 million people, located just near the Mexican border.
“This city has been a target expansion market since our earliest days,” said MLS boss Don Garber.
“We just needed the right owner, one who would truly believe in this city, in this sport, in our league, and we needed the perfect stadium,” Commissioner Garber continued.
The previous highest expansion fee paid to join the league was in 2019: $325 million for Charlotte FC. In 1996, pioneer clubs had to pay just $5 million.
The league’s plans also call for the incorporation of two more franchises over the next few years. Las Vegas, Sacramento, Detroit, Phoenix and Tampa are cited as possible candidates.