Snapdragon Stadium – May 18, 2023

“San Diego FC is here, and they are here to stay,” said owner Mohamed Mansour toward the end of his speech at today’s MLS announcement.

Club CEO Tom Penn, Right to Dream founder Tom Vernon, club partner and San Diego Padres third baseman Manny Machado, FIFA Vice President and Concacaf President Victor Montagliani, City of San Diego Mayor Todd Gloria, and San Diego State University President Dr. Adela de la Torre were also in attendance for the announcement.

San Diego MLS 2025 is HERE!⚽️🥅#sandiegomls2025 pic.twitter.com/KOvysAaDPM

— San Diego FC (@sandiegomls2025) May 18, 2023

Thursday morning marked an incredible moment for not only the sport of soccer but for the city of San Diego. Bringing an MLS team to San Diego has been the goal since 2017, literally minutes after the Chargers confirmed relocation to Los Angeles.

It’s been a six-year process that is finally happening.

Yes, this is a moment to celebrate, as in 2025, a competitive professional men’s soccer team will compete at Snapdragon Stadium along with the San Diego Wave FC. However, one cannot forget the message the Loyal sent to the community of San Diego. Since the very beginning, USL Championship’s own promised to give back to the community and has made the supporter group, The Locals, a massive part of the organization.

There has been speculation on if this new MLS club will do the same, but that is a conversation for another time. For now, it’s time to dive a little deeper on what to expect as this club begins to take shape.

The owner of the team is Mohamed Mansour. Mansour is quite the wealthy man. He is an Egyptian billionaire who has a net worth of $2.9 billion, according to Forbes. Mansour paid the $500 million expansion fee to purchase San Diego FC. SD beat out Las Vegas for the bid, and now the city will have the 30th team in Major League Soccer.

Chairman Cody Martinez has a special story of his own as a native of San Diego. Martinez is a principal owner along with Mansour. He is also the Chairman of Sycuan Casino and was a huge part of getting this team to SD.

SDFC will start in 2025. The team has yet to officially announce a permanent name and color scheme but did mention that they will in the coming weeks. However, CEO Tom Penn did confirm that the team will be named San Diego FC or FC San Diego. San Diego FC plans on visiting a majority, if not all, of the cities in San Diego County to talk to the communities and ask for opinions on such matters. That is certainly a start …

EVT asked Chairman Martinez on what he can build on in terms of a culture, learning from the San Diego Loyal and San Diego Wave FC.

“It makes sense to build off what was already been built in this community,” Martinez said. “I personally look forward as a part of the ownership group to engaging with the supporter groups, the fans, and the citizens to figure out how we can make this team represent them.”

Padres’ star Manny Machado is a minority owner of the team. This has been a very fast transition, yet Machado said yes right away and knew that this was going to be something special.

More from Padres’ star Manny Machado on San Diego FC pic.twitter.com/5sB1dn6IuH

— Chris Spiering (@Clutch__Chris) May 18, 2023

Machado mentions that he has a lot of learning to do but has been a soccer fan for about ten years. There is no better star in the city to partner with, as now he will be a part of two professional teams competing for a championship for San Diego.

I’m sure there are many questions that will want to be answered. We will know more in the coming weeks. For now, be sure to stay tuned as more on San Diego FC is coming your way.

Chris Spiering

Chris is a graduate of the University of San Diego. He is the former Sports Editor for the USDVista newspaper. Chris is also an athlete and is huge fan of San Diego sports. Chris has covered the San Diego Loyal, and contributes regularly about the Padres.