Cesar Hernandez Oct 20, 2023, 11:00 PM ET4 Minute Read
SAN DIEGO – The San Diego Football Club officially announced its name, crest and branding on Friday at an event at Snapdragon Stadium.
The unveiling of the team’s brand follows the announcement in May that the group behind the newly named San Diego FC would become the 30th MLS club to receive an expansion franchise
Since receiving the franchise rights, the club has worked with design agency Pupila, San Diego-based agency The House Of and local soccer fans to develop the brand identity.
“Our big challenge was to make sure we created something that reflected and represented this unique community,” club CEO Tom Penn told ESPN ahead of Friday’s event. “We wanted to really dig deep into the community over a long period of time to hear from them what this club must mean.”
As for the team’s name, Penn noted that the club chose either San Diego FC or FC San Diego, with further feedback leaning toward the former.
“Should we put San Diego and the community first or should we put football first? The feedback we received was about 85/15 in favor of the community. Putting San Diego first is the loud and clear answer,” he said.
Mohamed Mansour, co-owner of San Diego FC, and Cody Martinez, chairman of the Sycuan Band of the Kumeyaay Nation, pose for a photo with Tom Penn, CEO of San Diego FC, and Tom Vernon, founder of Right to Dream. Orlando Ramirez-USA TODAY Sports
San Diego FC is owned by Egyptian billionaire Mohamed Mansour, the Sycuan Band of the Kumeyaay Nation and San Diego Padres infielder Manny Machado.
The voice of the local Sycuan Band of the Kumeyaay Nation — the first Native American tribe to be part of a professional soccer team ownership group in the U.S. — was “very, very important” in creating the brand identity, Penn noted. Part of it was led by Sycuan Tribal Chairman Cody Martinez.
“[Martinez’s] The brief to me was, “Let’s put together a club and a brand that represents the entire region, not just what outsiders would think, not just the coast, not just downtown, not just the superficial level of what the People think about San Diego,'” Penn said.
“He wanted something that went deep into the fabric of the entire community, East County, North County, South Bay. The result of this is the river, this symbol that sits at the heart of our coat of arms.”
In addition to Chrome and Azul as the team’s primary colors, San Diego FC’s branding includes yellow, orange, red and blue.
The San Diego FC crest was designed by design agency Pupila after consultation with the local community. Courtesy of the San Diego Football Club
“Chrome is a color [but] “It’s also an effect,” Penn said. “It’s inherently reflective and because chrome is reflective, it allows us to bring in what we call the colors of the community.” The colors of San Diego, as we’ve heard, are a gradient from blue to red to orange to towards yellow.
“The sun, the sea, the leaves. The beauty of this place is reflected in the colors of the community. Chrome is also innovative and innovative, and this city and this region is full of innovation.”
On Thursday, The Athletic shared details about San Diego FC’s branding, prompting widespread criticism of both the name and crest on social media. When asked about the initial reaction, Penn expressed confidence that perceptions would change in the future.
“We think we’re telling a pretty complex story here that has many layers and is deeply rooted in San Diego. Therefore, we expect that it will take some time to explain the nuances and the reason for these grades,” he said.
The next important step in the club’s process ahead of its debut in 2025 will be the hiring of its first manager and technical director.
Penn stated that “the timeline for our most important football decisions will be after the first of the year, sometime in 2024,” and then they will begin signing players.
As for the first big signing, Penn suggested he wouldn’t follow the same game plan he did when he was president of LAFC when he entered the league in 2018. The Los Angeles club signed Mexican international Carlos Vela as its first designated player.
“We don’t have a specific goal, no,” Penn said when asked if his goal was to sign a high-profile Mexican star as his first major signing.
“We want to find fundamental players who will accompany us in the formative years of a club. We will work with key football operations executives identified to make these important decisions.”
Other investors on the team include Brad Termini of Zephyr Partners and Tom Vernon and Dan Dickinson of Right to Dream.
The Right to Dream, controlled by Mansour’s London-based Man Capital firm, is a Ghana-based academy that also includes FC Nordsjaelland of the Danish top flight and Egyptian lower division side Tutankhamun Football Club.
The Right to Dream currently operates academies in Ghana, Denmark and Egypt and will expand into California with an academy to be housed at San Diego FC’s yet-to-be-built training facility in El Cajon, San Diego County, which will break ground in November.
Vernon told ESPN in June that the San Diego academy will be a “best-in-class facility in the United States” and will target the highest operating costs of any academy system in MLS.