San Diego MLS Expansion Ready for Takeoff

A group of investors, along with the City of San Diego and local leaders, have submitted their official bid to bring a Major League Soccer franchise to town. 
FS Investors, the investment group with the exclusive rights to bid for a San Diego MLS franchise, submitted their proposal on Monday, January 30, on the deck of the USS Midway Museum in hopes of bringing the league’s 25th franchise to San Diego. 
The submission by FS Investors proposes a $1 billion stadium and entertainment district in the current Qualcomm Stadium site. The proposed development will include a stadium – with a projected capacity of 30,000 –  which will host both professional soccer and SDSU Aztecs football, athletic training fields, housing units, student dormitories, office spaces, and 50 acres of park land. The plan’s boosters have stated that no public funds will be used for this project. 
The announcement counted with the presence of investing members, as well as San Diego Mayor Kevin Faulconer, who spoke positively of the potential impact this project could have on the current Qualcomm Stadium site. 
“[This] is an opportunity to create jobs, it’s an opportunity to revitalize Mission Valley, and become an economic driver that will help us pave streets, keep our neighborhoods safe, and do all the things we do in this great city,” Mayor Faulconer said. 
Juan Carlos Rodriguez, President of Univision Deportes and a lead investor in this bid, invited those in attendance, as well as anyone following the news of the potential franchise, to be involved in developing the team’s identity. 
“We have the financial resources, but the most important thing, that we have to be sure of, is that we have all San Diegans be part of the process of creating the DNA of the team,” Rodriguez said. “It is very important for us that you join us in the process of finding the name, finding the logo, finding the colors, the songs, and all the DNA that we’re going to be creating for the team.” 
Soccer fans can get involved at soccercitysd.com. Currently fans can only select options for what european and national teams they would like to see play exhibition matches at the proposed stadium. Fan voting for the team name, colors, logos, and other markers of identity will become available later this year and in 2018. 
The ceremony closed with Mike Stone, the San Diego developer at the helm of of FS Investors’ project, handing over the bid to MLS Commissioner Don Garber, who was in town for the U.S. Men’s National Team’s match against Serbia. 
As of right now, the next step for the investors is to gather 72,000 signatures from City residents so that the project can go to the City Council for approval without having to go through a public vote. 
Major League Soccer will be announcing potential expansion franchises this summer out of a pool of 12 participating cities and their respective bids.