San Diego’s MLS team ‘could launch Thursday’ and will be bought for $500 million by British-Egyptian billionaire Mohamed Mansour – senior treasurer of the Conservative Party
- San Diego is poised to get its 30th Major League Soccer team in time for 2025
- The team is returned by British-Egyptian billionaire Mohamed Mansour
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A British-Egyptian billionaire with ties to England’s Conservative Party approaches a new Major League Soccer franchise team in San Diego.
According to London timesMohamed Mansour will pay $500m (£400m) as the 30th MLS team and an announcement could be as soon as Thursday.
MLS commissioner Don Garber said in February that launching a 30th team was a priority for him, telling DailyMail.Com, “San Diego and Las Vegas are the most likely.”
“The 30th team is coming soon. We would like to announce that before the end of the year.’
Mansour, worth $3.6 billion according to Forbes, was appointed senior treasurer of the Conservative Party by Prime Minister Rishi Sunak last December. He becomes a co-owner alongside the local Sycuan tribe.
British-Egyptian billionaire Mohamed Mansour is set to launch an MLS franchise in San Diego
The San Diego Wave women’s team set an attendance record against Angel City of 22,000
He is also the majority shareholder of the Danish football club Nordsjaelland, but studied in the United States during his student days.
The team from San Diego is believed to join Major League Soccer in 2025, a year before the World Cup is held in the United States, Mexico and Canada.
The $500 million paid for the San Diego franchise is a new MLS record – significantly more than the $325 million paid for Charlotte FC in 2019.
This season, St Louis City joined MLS as an expansion team and has been one of the league’s main selling points of the 2023 season so far.
The team is currently third in the Western Conference and has won its first five games.
The imminent arrival of San Diego also now means that 15 teams will participate in each conference.
The San Diego Wave, which joined the National Women’s Soccer League in 2022, set a single game attendance record in the league at 32,000 against Angel City FC last September.