California is about to get a fourth Major League Soccer team.
MLS is expected to announce plans for a 30th team on Thursday in San Diego, according to the London Times. Mohamed Mansour, a British-Egyptian billionaire and Conservative Party treasurer, will reportedly buy the franchise for $500 million.
The club is scheduled to be owned by Mansour and the Sycuan Band of the Kumeyaay Nation, which is a Native American tribe based in the San Diego area for more than 12,000 years. The organization’s total investment could top $700 million.
An official announcement is expected on Thursday. The club will enter the league for the 2025 season. The move will bring Mansour closer to buying a soccer club in England. He currently owns a Danish Superliga team, and has “definitely” had an English team on his radar in recent years. According to the report, the 75-year-old is worth about $3.6 billion.
San Diego now has two professional soccer clubs in the city. The San Diego Wave is one of the newest clubs in the National Women’s Soccer League, and the San Diego Loyal competes in the USL. The franchise is coached by former USMNT star Landon Donovan.
MLS has grown significantly in recent years. Both Inter Miami CF and Nashville SC entered the league in 2020. Austin, Charlotte and St. Louis then followed in the following years. The St. Louis City SC is the 29th team in the league, and it started playing this season. This is the ninth new team added to the league since 2019.
MLS commissioner Don Garber said earlier this year that the league would announce plans for a 30th team by “the end of the year.” San Diego is a finalist, along with Las Vegas. It’s unclear whether MLS will try to expand past 30 teams — which brings it even with the NBA and MLB.