Major League Soccer is coming
to America's Finest City.
Welcome to the floor. I'm Marcella Lee.
Heather Myers has the day off. I'm
Carlo Chichetto, CBS8 Jake Gary and
he is live at Snapdragon Stadium.
We're just hours ago,
MLS announced an expansion team
has been awarded to San Diego.
Big day, Jake.
Yeah, Marcella, Carla,
what a monumental day really for
San Diego and its sports market.
We were in there earlier today and this
building was buzzing with excitement
that MLS is truly coming here.
The announcement was officially made.
Now, we pretty much all already
knew that it was going to happen,
but that did not take away from the
excitement that was felt from everybody
in that building and soccer fans
around the county and the country.
Really. And what made this possible was
one this building behind me, right?
You need a place to play and.
Snapdragon got put up,
it made it possible into money.
And that's where Egyptian billionaire
Mohammed Monsour comes in.
He helped back this with the Saquan tribe,
our local Saquan tribe,
A $500 million expansion fee as a
part of getting this team here.
And today I caught up with all the
important people that made it possible.
Mister Man, Sir, why this market and why now?
Well it's the opportunity
was here we couldn't.
We're very pleased and
fortunate to be to be selected.
We've worked at it in the last year
or so and I think it's a great place to be.
I mean San Diego is an amazing city,
it's an amazing community and we
want to be part of it.
We want to have a great football club.
That's great for the fans,
that's for the fans that
will be kicking off in 2025.
So what are
your expectation for the fan base
here? You know,
I I expect it to be really.
Big and and passionate.
This is a soccer market.
You know you have soccer history here well
before Major League Soccer came into town.
And we've looked at the success of the
wave and the passionate support of the loyal.
And you know what?
We have no doubt Tom Penn was
the president has no doubt that
this stadium will be packed.
You'll be rocking.
We wanted to build something
for the community of San Diego.
We wanted to give every fan,
every person in our community,
a reason to come to this stadium.
And MLS is a big part of
that we've been supporting.
Professional sports at San Diego to
the tunes of millions of dollars in
sponsorships over the last 30 to 40
years and it's just been a dream that
today we are at the owners table.
We feel like we want to be
either San Diego football Club,
so San Diego FC or should we
put the football first.
Should it be football club of
San Diego like FC San Diego.
That'll be at one.
It'll be either FC San Diego or San Diego FC.
Thanks. Yeah you heard it here.
First breaking news.
Yeah, so how about it?
A little bit of breaking news there.
You now know one of the two options for
the team name which was up in the air.
It'll either be Football Club of San
Diego or San Diego Football Club.
And the only other piece of surprising
news that really came in today was that
San Diego Padres star Manny Machado is
going to be a part owner in this club.
And in fact we got a chance
to catch up with him as well.
The biggest thing is the community.
I mean I think you know we we, we, we've,
we've put our roots into this community
and we're going to continue to do that.
And I think this is a big part of it.
You know we got a big soccer hub
here with with kids growing this,
growing in the sport,
The sport is growing all over,
all over the country,
all over the, you know, the world.
So you know to be to to have my
hands on some of this and then to,
you know share my knowledge,
you know, could be a big impact.
You you know what this fan base
can be like firsthand.
Petco Park.
What do you think it could be like here
for MLSI think it's going to be huge.
I think soccer is is one of the
most electric sports you can you
can have and knowing how our fans
are I think you know this roof
is going to be isn't very loud.
I'll tell you that
it is going to be a lot of fun when
they begin play here in this stadium in
2025 they will be the 30th club in MLS.
And you guys, I think this is
one of the most untapped markets.
In all of sports, because of how big and
how crazy soccer fans out here really are,
I mean just look at what the Wave have done.
This is going to be a lot of fun you two.
You got the breaking news though,
FC San Diego or San Diego FC.
So, So the big follow up do we have
colors and a Crest yet for the team?
Because while the name might be
just a little straightforward,
that Crest in those colors,
those could be a real difference maker.
So we did ask about that.
They said those will come a little
later down the line, maybe summertime.
I have heard some rumors about the colors,
maybe red, black, whitish,
but but we have nothing
official that I can bring you.
But I'm sure it will be fantastic
when they have it and everyone will
be wearing it across their chest.
And I cannot wait to see Snapdragon
Stadium going crazy for this team.
If they did keep those colors,
what kind of go along with the theme
of the stadium? I think some people
were hoping maybe to get their say,
but maybe on social media people
will vote for one or the other.
No cute names like Carlo
was suggesting yesterday.
What were you suggesting?
Oh, I would, I was good with FC.
But I said if we're going to
go with the wave, you know,
we could do Riptide or something
to playoff the waves.
But I'm good with FC either.
Either place too.
You know, as long as you win,
nobody cares what it's called,
right? Isn't that the truth?
All right. So excited.
So much excitement in the air.
Thanks so much for that
breaking news, Jake.