Loyal Proprietor Says ‘We Aren’t Going Anyplace’ As Buzz Grows Over MLS Enlargement in San Diego

San Diego Loyal SC responded this week to experiences {that a} big-money group is on the cusp of bringing a MLS membership to town.

Chairman and proprietor Andrew Vassiliadis stated of his workforce, which is a part of USL Championship, “our plan is straightforward. We aren’t going anyplace.”

Numerous media retailers, together with ESPN. have reported on the curiosity of billionaire Mohamed Mansour of the Mansour Group, in partnership with the Sycuan Band of the Kumeyaay Nation, in establishing an MLS enlargement workforce in San Diego, to play at Snapdragon Stadium by 2025.

Vassiliadis, in a Wednesday assertion, thanked Loyal followers for his or her “unwavering assist” in the course of the Loyal’s 4 seasons in San Diego. He went on to say:

We’ve got develop into conscious of an unbiased possession group that intends to launch their very own membership in San Diego. Our unwavering dedication is to the imaginative and prescient of rising soccer on this metropolis, and we need to make that abundantly clear.

Landon Donovan, all the San Diego Loyal workforce and I are devoted to this mission, and we are going to proceed to work tirelessly to realize it. Our ardour for soccer and for our neighborhood won’t ever falter.

San Diego, we’re one with you. Our love for this metropolis runs deep. That is our dwelling, and we’re proud to be a part of its wealthy and various cloth.

Paul Tenorio, a soccer reporter for The Athletic website online (paywall), instructed CBS Information that the enlargement charge to launch a San Diego membership is predicted to be $500 million, with $100 million extra to be spent on Snapdragon Stadium, although the venue is lower than a 12 months outdated.

“Which means thousands and thousands of {dollars} behind this possession group,” he stated.

The success of San Diego Wave FC, which started as an enlargement membership final 12 months, additionally could also be enjoying an element, Tenorio instructed CBS.

“I feel MLS might be pretty assured that they will pull a giant crowd, partly as a result of the NWSL not too long ago expanded to San Diego,” he stated, whereas additionally pointing to the Wave’s document opening crowd at Snapdragon in March.

MLS has two conferences, Japanese and Western. Including an enlargement membership within the west would even up the divide, at 15 groups per convention. California has three franchises – the L.A.- primarily based Galaxy and LAFC, and San Jose.