The club's ownership group is led by British-Egyptian businessman and former politician Mohamed Mansour and the Sycuan Band of the Kumeyaay Nation, a federally recognized Native American tribe.

[1][2] The Sockers had poor attendance but survived the folding of the NASL by moving to the Major Indoor Soccer League, where they won eight championships in nine seasons.

[5] During the formation of MLS in the mid-1990s, San Diego was not among the U.S. cities to formally submit a bid for a team in the inaugural season, but expressed interest and held several meetings with the league.

[10] Following the approval of plans to build a downtown ballpark for the Padres, the MLS expansion committee voiced their support of a potential team playing at Qualcomm Stadium—either permanently or until a soccer-specific stadium was built.

[12] The team instead chose to share its home venue with the LA Galaxy in Carson, California, and played for ten seasons before folding for low attendance and ownership issues.

[13][14] The league continued to list San Diego as a potential candidate for expansion and negotiated with several interested investor groups, but the lack of a suitable stadium prevented further consideration.

[18] The team attracted support from fans in San Diego—about 20 miles (32 km) north of their home stadium—and played several exhibition matches in the area at various venues,[19] including Qualcomm Stadium and the Padres' Petco Park.

[20][21] San Diego also remained one of the top U.S. viewing markets for television broadcasts of the FIFA World Cup, Premier League, and other overseas soccer competitions.

[23] The team's departure was made official in early 2017 and opened an opportunity for a new MLS expansion bid to be led by businessman Mike Stone with several other investors, including Padres owner Peter Seidler and former soccer player Landon Donovan.

[10][29] A second-division team, San Diego Loyal SC, was established by Warren Smith and Landon Donovan in 2019 and began play the following year in the USL Championship at Torero Stadium.

[31] Several investor groups also approached SDSU to launch a MLS expansion team that would play at Snapdragon Stadium with financial concessions requested by the league.

[10] A separate proposal to build a mixed-use residential and hotel district in the suburb of Chula Vista with a soccer-specific stadium was announced in April 2023 by Petra Development Group and outside investors.

[32] The Sycuan Band of the Kumeyaay Nation, a federally recognized Native American tribe and operators of local entertainment venues, began looking for opportunities to invest in sports ownership in December 2020.

[36][37] On May 18, 2023, at a Snapdragon Stadium event, MLS announced that the expansion team had been awarded to San Diego and would be owned by Mansour and the Sycuan Tribe.

[42] The team signed their first Designated Player, Mexico international and forward Hirving "Chucky" Lozano from PSV Eindhoven, to a four-year contract in June.

[45] The team's first match will be played on February 23, 2025, at Dignity Health Sports Park against the defending MLS Cup champions LA Galaxy.

[61] The team's training facilities are planned to be constructed on a 28-acre (11 ha) site adjacent to the Singing Hills Golf Resort on the Sycuan Reservation east of El Cajon.

[38] The Mansour Group also owns Danish club FC Nordsjælland and the Right to Dream youth academy, which has facilities in Ghana, Egypt, and Denmark.

[66] A branch of the Right to Dream Academy is planned to be opened in El Cajon with residential facilities for 120 to 160 players, according to The San Diego Union-Tribune.