In debut season, SDFC front office ‘continuing to build’ on and off the field

San Diego FC already has made history as the most successful expansion team in Major League Soccer history, earning 18 wins and 60 points in its inaugural season, besting the
previous record of 16 wins and 57 points set by Los Angeles FC in 2018

Now, with one match left in the regular season, San Diego could finish anywhere from first to fourth in the Western Conference table, depending on whether it wins, loses or
draws on the road against the Portland Timbers.

In fact, Saturday, known as Decision Day, will determine the playoff seeding not only for San Diego, but for virtually every club in the playoff hunt as each team in MLS plays its final
match.

Here's what's at stake on Saturday.

What do u think? pic.twitter.com/YZWSv0UC2A— San Diego FC (@sandiegofc) October 14, 2025

With Decision Day right around the corner, Times of San Diego spoke with SDFC CEO Tom Penn and Sporting Director Tyler Heaps about the team’s recent past, prosperous present and near future.

Highlights of the Q&A are below, with some responses edited for length and clarity.

Q: What are the club’s priorities going into the playoffs?

Heaps: Priority one is to ensure that we approach the playoffs as we have the whole season. We’ve said it all year, we’re here to win and that’s really apparent in the playoffs, but how we
win, and who we win with, matters. So, ensuring that we stick to our football and our style and how we do things and ensuring that we do it with the players that we have in the locker room that we continue to build and develop. Those are kind of the priorities, just ensuring that it’s almost status quo, but really sticking to our principles and how we got the results so far this year.

Q: What has made soccer a thriving and growing sport in San Diego?

Penn: It’s just in the DNA of the community. I think one reason is the amazing, perfect weather and the fact that we can play year-round here. It’s like other places in the world, where it just becomes part of the fabric of what people do and what kids do coming up. I think the proximity to Mexico as well plays a part in this because as you know, across the border, there’s one and only (one) sport, and that’s soccer. So here, it’s just part of everyday life. The quality of talent that comes out of the youth system here has been well known for decades. It’s been very rewarding to become part of the fabric of the community.

Q: How is having home pitch advantage during the playoffs important, especially for an expansion franchise like San Diego?

Heaps: For us, it’s about continuing to build on what this city has brought to Snapdragon (Stadium). That north end (Supporters’ Section) has that place rockin’, I know our players, I know our staff feed off of that. I think our football (team) also feeds off of that. I know opposition teams don’t like coming here because of the things that we’ve built at Snapdragon and some of the singing and chanting and all of that for 90 minutes. So for us, it’s massive to have that city behind us, to be constantly engrained, ensuring that our players have every ounce of energy and effort that they need to try to win. First and foremost, it’s about getting into this Decision Day and trying to finish with the highest seed as possible to give ourselves the best chance of having more home games in the playoffs, and then it’s about showing up in game one and making sure that we give these fans something to cheer about.

Q: Would a deep playoff run affect pitch conditions at the stadium? Wave FC and the San Diego State football team are also currently using the field.

Penn: We always knew when we chose to enter into a long term lease with San Diego State University that the trickiest part of our schedule would be deep into the fall when the American football team is playing. So we’ve been working with the university and the building operators on a plan. There’ll be a field replacement along the way, so there’ll be fresh grass that’s brought in. I think we’ll be okay in these early (playoff) rounds. When we get to the knockout rounds, there’s one potentially challenging busy weekend where there’s the chance that we might host a game soon after the (SDSU) football team plays, and that’s the trickiest part for us, and we’ll do our best with the landlord, with the university, with the building operators to make sure the field’s in the best condition.

Q: Anything else?

Heaps: (We want to make) sure that we try to get as many fans there (at the matches) as possible who are as engaged as possible. And then, from a football standpoint, we’ll try to stick to the exact same thing that we’ve been doing all season and hopefully success comes from that.