Featured image credit: Major League Soccer
San Diego FC set a new attendance record at Snapdragon Stadium on Saturday as 34,506 fans watched the team’s 0-0 draw against St. Louis City SC.
This season marks San Diego FC’s debut in Major League Soccer after the California city was awarded an expansion franchise back in 2023.
The team won its first game away at LA Galaxy on February 23, before debuting at Snapdragon Stadium on Saturday. Although the game finished goalless, the match set a new crowd record for a sporting event at Snapdragon Stadium.
The match was overshadowed by homophobic chanting from the San Diego FC fans. Following the match, San Diego FC coach Mikey Varas said the chant was “unacceptable” and does not represent the values of the club.
The chant is said to have come from a general seating area at the stadium, and not from the club’s main supporter group, La Frontera.
San Diego FC agreed a 30-year lease deal to play at the 35,000-seat Snapdragon Stadium, which opened in September 2022 and also serves as the home of San Diego State University’s American football team, the Aztecs.
National Women’s Soccer League (NWSL) team San Diego Wave also plays its home games at the stadium. In 2022, the team set a new attendance record for the NWSL as 32,000 fans watched its 1-0 win over Angel City FC.
San Diego FC is owned by Egyptian billionaire Mohamed Mansour and the Sycuan Band of the Kumeyaay Nation. Mansour is the founder and chairman of London-based investment management firm Man Capital, which owns Right to Dream (RTD), the global soccer community of academies, clubs and partners. The franchise was acquired for a reported $500m (£394m/€477m), a record fee for an MLS club.
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