San Diego is getting a football team back -- but it’s a different kind.
Major League Soccer has reached an agreement worth $500 million with Mohamed Mansour and the Sycuan Band of the Kumeyaay Nation on a deal to bring an expansion team to San Diego, according to Sportico.
DON’T MISS: This Coastal Destination May Finally Get Another Pro Sports Team
The announcement has yet to be made official, but is expected later this week.
Mansour heads the Mansour Group which manages business primarily in the automotive business with brands like General Motors, Peugeot, MG, and Caterpillar, according to its website. The Sycuan Reservation is located around 20 miles from San Diego and is governed by the Sycuan Business Committee.
Sportico reports that the new team is set to play by the 2025 MLS season, giving the league the 30th soccer franchise it has been planning for multiple years already. It’s expected to call Snapdragon Stadium its home field, the same stadium where the NWSL’s San Diego Wave play.
MLS had previously been looking at a team in either Sacramento or Las Vegas but failed to find an agreement.
The $500 million price tag for the team is over 50% more than any other MLS team in the past. Billionaire hedge fund manager David Tepper purchased an expansion team for Charlotte in 2019 for $325 million, the next closest price to the San Diego purchase.
This purchase brings the average MLS price up to $582 million based on Sportico’s calculations. MLS now has 18 of the 50 most valuable soccer franchises -- more than even the English Premier League -- despite not being considered one of the top leagues in terms of soccer talent.
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