Egyptian billionaire Mohamed Mansour, owner of Right to Dream Academy in Ghana, has successfully acquired new Major League Soccer club in San Diego.
MLS Commissioner Don GArber announced on Thursday that the San Diego team will be the 30th franchise in the American top-flight and they will start competing in 2025 at Snapdragon Stadium.
The new San Diego team will increase the number of MLS clubs in the state of California to four, joining Los Angeles FC, Los Angeles Galaxy, San Jose Earthquakes.
The Mansour Group ownership comes in partnership with Sycuan Band of the Kumeyaay Nation and baseball star Manny Machado who plays for San Diego Padres.
The ownership group fronted by Mansour will reportedly pay an expansion fee of $500 million, which is the highest ever paid for an MLS team.
The new deal strengthens the Mansour Group’s sports investment having bought Right to Dream Academy in Ghana’s capital city Accra in 2021 which has produced several stars who are shining in top European leagues, from Southampton’s Kamaldeen Sulemana, Ajax’s Mohammed Kudus to MLS stars AbdulMajeed Waris and Yaw Yeboah.
The new San Diego team will join the NWSL’s San Diego Wave FC, San Diego State Aztecs football and San Diego Legion of Major League Rugby in sharing the Snapdragon Stadium as home ground.
