Major League Soccer is one franchise away from its goal of being a 30-team league and one city seems to be pulling ahead.
San Diego “is clearly the leader in the clubhouse” to get an MLS franchise by 2025, a source told ESPN.
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The Southern California city has the MLB’s San Diego Padres, but the city lost the NFL’s Chargers to Los Angeles in 2017 after over five decades in San Diego.
However, San Diego has proven to be a strong soccer market, already housing the NWSL’s San Diego Wave and USL Championship’s San Diego Loyal. The Wave were third in attendance in 2022, their inaugural NWSL season. They also hold the record for most tickets sold for an NWSL game.
The ownership group for a potential San Diego-based MLS franchise would reportedly be led by The Mansour Group which is under Egyptian billionaire Mohamed Mansour. The team would also have a ready venue if the Snapdragon Stadium is available. The stadium is on San Diego State’s campus and also houses the Wave’s matches.
MLS has added two franchises in the last two years -- Charlotte in 2022 and St. Louis this year. Las Vegas was viewed as a clear finalist alongside San Diego prior to this latest report as the city has leaned into heavy sports expansion over the last half decade.
