MLS expanding to San Diego

SAN DIEGO, Calif. - Major League Soccer is coming to San Diego.

MLS Commissioner Don Garber announced Thursday San Diego has been awarded the league's 30th team and will begin competing as an expansion club in 2025.

The team's name and crest will be announced at a later date.

"We are thrilled to welcome San Diego to Major League Soccer as our 30th team," said Garber. "For many years we have believed San Diego would be a terrific MLS market due to its youthful energy, great diversity, and the fact that soccer is an essential part of everyday life for so many people."

The club is owned by billionaire Mohamed Mansour and the Sycuan Tribe, the first Native American tribe to have an ownership stake in a professional soccer team. The ownership group also includes San Diego Padres star third baseman Manny Machado.

The addition of the San Diego franchise balances MLS at 15 teams per conference.

The team will play at Snapdragon Stadium, which is already home to the San Diego Wave of the National Women’s Soccer League and the university’s football team.

San Diego’s soccer tradition dates back to the late 1970s with the San Diego Sockers of the North American Soccer League. The city currently hosts the USL Championship club, the San Diego Loyal, which was co-founded by National Soccer Hall of Famer Landon Donovan.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.