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News, Blog and GuidesThe Californian franchise will join the league in 2025. As St. Louis City demonstrated, solid foundations are the key to MLS success.
Víctor Martín J.VictorMartJimWilliam GittinsWillGittUpdate: Dec 12th, 2023 08:37 EST
Columbus Crew’s MLS Cup triumph over LAFC brought the league’s historic 2023 season to a close. After a thrilling, breathless campaign the coaches and players will be looking forward to a few well-earned weeks of rest, but the work will continue in front offices across the country.
Throughout the Christmas period clubs will be focused on preparing for the 2024 season, the final year of a 29-team MLS. But in San Diego, soon the home of the league’s 30th franchise, sights are set on the club’s maiden season in 2025.
San Diego FC were officially announced earlier this year and the team’s badge and colours were unveiled back in October. They are set to become California’s fourth MLS franchise and will play in the 35,000-capacity soccer-specific Snapdragon Stadium
THANK YOU, SAN DIEGO. THE CHROME & AZUL ERA BEGINS NOW. #WovenIntoOne #18somosUno pic.twitter.com/wMBpBoUj8U
— San Diego FC (@sandiegofc) October 21, 2023
The new club are approaching one year from their MLS debut and the owners have big ambitions for the team. St. Louis City showed what is possible for debutant clubs in MLS, winning the Western Conference at a canter in their first season. San Diego have a busy year ahead of them to ensure that they begin life in MLS on the front foot.
San Diego boast billion-dollar budget
Starting a new team in MLS is not cheap. A decade ago New York City FC were announced as the league’s next expansion team, costing owners an expansion fee of $100 million.
As interest in the league has risen so too has the cost of entry; the expansion fee for San Diego is $500 million, the largest in league history.
The new franchise has set aside $1 billion to set up the team, half of which will be used for the expansion fee. The remainder will be spent on player and staff hires, infrastructure improvements and a massive brand-building programme.
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MLS commissioner Don Garber alongside San Diego FC owner Mohamed Mansour and fellow officials.Orlando RamirezUSA TODAY Sports via Reuters Con
We are now more than a year into the project, funded in large part by Egyptian businessman and former politician Mohamed Mansour. He has formed a partnership with the Sycuan Tribe, who have invested in a number of other sporting and cultural projects in the San Diego area. This consortium has deep pockets and extensive business experience, but sporting experts have also been drafted in to advise owners in the process of setting up a sports franchise. The team hopes to take advantage of a powerful sporting market, that has so far been underrepresented in the world of soccer.
San Diego hope to learn from St. Louis
They fell in the first hurdle in the playoffs, but the incredible regular season form of St. Louis City sas undoubtedly one of the stories of the year in MLS. The debutant side became the first team to win their opening five games in MLS and the only team to finish top of their conference in their maiden campaign.
They did this despite working to a very tight budget, starting the season with the second-lowest payroll in the league.
St. Louis’ success lay in the preparatory work done ahead of time, in the months and years before they kicked off in MLS. The club opted for a German-inspired high-pressing style, and set about targeting the people who could make that happen.
Sporting director Lutz Pfannenstiel made his professional debut in Germany and later spent a decade working in the front office of top German teams. Head coach Bradley Carnell played in the Bundesliga and spent his coaching career with New York Red Bulls, who employ the same high-pressing style. Even the team’s first designated player, striker João Klauss, came from Germany and knows how to play their desired system.
Eyes on the future 🔎#SanDiegoFC & @right2dream scouts on location at #MLSNEXTFest Thank you @MLSNEXT for having us! pic.twitter.com/A4BpvF9gM7
— San Diego FC (@sandiegofc) December 11, 2023
That clarity of vision allowed St. Louis to begin life in the league at record-setting pace and should become the blueprint for all future expansion teams. It is not yet clear how San Diego will look to build their sporting identity, but the first steps have already been taken.
Ricardo Campos has been appointed executive vice president of club operations, following a highly successful stint with San Diego Loyal, formerly of the USL Championship. After he was officially unveiled as the new EVP, Campos said that he was focused on making the owners’ vision become a reality.
