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San Diego becomes Major League Soccer’s 30th franchise, will debut in 2025

Major League Soccer has awarded the city of San Diego an expansion franchise, increasing the total number of teams to 30. 

The American league’s commissioner Don Garber announced on Thursday that San Diego will debut in 2025. A team name and crest will be revealed in due course.

San Diego’s addition means the MLS will be balanced at 15 teams per conference. 

The franchise will play its home matches at the Snapdragon Stadium, which opened in August last year and has a 35,000 capacity. 

The venue already serves as home to the San Diego Wave of the National Women’s Soccer League and the university’s football team. 

ESPN reports the team will be owned by Mohamed Mansour, the Sycuan Band of the Kumeyaay Nation and Manny Machado. 

Mansour is an Egyptian billionaire who is the chairman of the Mansour Group, a multinational conglomerate with over $6 billion in revenue. He is also the majority owner of a Danish football club. 

The Sycuan Tribe are one of the four ethnic groups indigenous to San Diego County. They will now become the first Native American tribe to co-own a professional soccer team in the United States. 


Meanwhile, Machado is a third baseman for Major League Baseball (MLB) club San Diego Padres. 

Major League Soccer represents the sport’s highest level in the US. It was founded in 1993, with its inaugural season taking place three years later with just ten teams. 

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