http://web.mlsnet.com/news/mls_news.jsp?ymd=20100323&content_id=8881794&vkey=news_mls&fext=.jsp

We had a little bit of an argument about MLS going in the UEFA CL thread. This is what MLS has gone with for those who may be interested.

3/23/2010 7:33:02 PM

This is big

I'm talking Confederations Cup big

3/23/2010 7:40:58 PM

Quote :

"SALARY BUDGET: An increase of the salary budget from $2.315 million per club in 2009 to $2.55 million in 2010 (10.15%) and an increase of 5% per year thereafter. · An increase of the minimum salary for senior roster players from $34,000 in 2009 to $40,000 in 2010 (17.64%) and an increase of 5% per year thereafter."

3/23/2010 7:56:00 PM

Mauer League Soccer

3/23/2010 7:58:56 PM

^^ lol

3/23/2010 8:33:58 PM

you can't get mad at soccer haters when you're making MLS threads - it's like you're basically asking to get trolled

3/23/2010 8:38:38 PM

you won't see me posting anything irrelevant in the UEFA thread, because those motherfuckers are actually respectable

3/23/2010 8:41:11 PM

i cant think of 5 people that give a shit

3/23/2010 8:50:16 PM

MLS SUCKS!!!1

3/23/2010 8:54:10 PM

hm....i mean, i guess if you want the MLS to be a great league (and I do, but i sure won't watch it until it becomes entertaining) then you will have to eventually compete with the salaries/benefits of european leagues (and eventually the schedule). but these guys suck. and while i don't follow the financial aspects of the league, i'd venture to guess that it's struggling to just stay afloat, and i'd hate for it to go bankrupt a la the NASL.


at least they avoided a strike, which would have killed the league all together.

[Edited on March 23, 2010 at 9:41 PM. Reason : ]

3/23/2010 9:39:28 PM

it wouldn't have just killed the league, it would've hurt brian ching's chances of being the top scorer in the world cup. the last thing team usa needs is brian ching being rusty.

3/23/2010 9:48:28 PM

ahahah Brian Ching top scorer in the WC is a laughable proposition






and I think this CBA sucks, the players just locked themselves into 5 more years of being slightly less shit-upon

3/23/2010 11:22:35 PM

^Yeh it does sort of suck, but club soccer in the USA is not ready to open the flood gates like in Europe. The NASL took this path and it went broke. With the current system the league is able to stop clubs from spending too much money. There is a reason the league left the NFL stadiums and started playing in stadiums that hold a max of about 25,000 people (It's a niche sport).

[Edited on March 24, 2010 at 12:15 AM. Reason : .]

3/23/2010 11:59:01 PM

The free agency thing was the one thing they should've fought for, and now they've got some ridiculous fucking post-contract draft

3/24/2010 12:22:14 AM

^Maybe I am wrong, but to me it sounds like free agency with a different name. It doesn't say if it is an actual draft with selection order, or a free agent pool.

3/24/2010 12:24:50 AM

the way I read it, it's definitely still the short end of the stick for players out of contract.

3/24/2010 12:44:52 AM

^I'm sure it probably is.

3/24/2010 1:14:53 AM

I'm pretty sure the league would have folded if the players held out for true free agency.

That's the absolute one thing owners will not compromise on at the moment, especially considering their single-entity status constantly being scrutinized. This would just open the doors for more lawsuits and a probably dissolution of that status which is in essence, the only thing that has kept the league alive and the only thing keeping good owners in it.

3/24/2010 6:07:57 AM

why would it fold?


how is it any different from even the most bare-bones african league?


if a player's contract is done, then it is done. he does not still belong to that team, and should be free to sign with anyone else.

3/24/2010 6:56:44 PM

Because the owners never would have agreed to a proposal with true free agency.

And if players made that ultimatum, they'd all be finding work in a different league.


^ they essentially have that now anyways. The only difference is if a guy's contract is up with a certain team and another MLS team wants him, the original team has the right to match the offer. If they don't, the player goes through the re-entry draft. It's not that big of a deal. Whatever leverage the owners have to keep bidding wars from happening and a competitive balance in the league, they're not going to give it up.

[Edited on March 24, 2010 at 7:36 PM. Reason : .]

[Edited on March 24, 2010 at 7:40 PM. Reason : not waived]

3/24/2010 7:32:37 PM

Quote :

"And if players made that ultimatum, they'd all be finding work in a different league. out of work"

V that's fucking pathetic, if true

[Edited on March 24, 2010 at 8:13 PM. Reason : ]

3/24/2010 8:02:45 PM

^Not really. The USL (now NASL) actually pays better. Players make $70,000, yet some senior roster players in MLS make $30,000. They could just move down a division.

[Edited on March 24, 2010 at 8:12 PM. Reason : .]

3/24/2010 8:11:49 PM

It's not even close to true, he's just talking out of his ass.

A handful of the highest paid players in the league might make that but it's nowhere near the average or the norm. Most of those guys are making like $500-1000 a month with a housing stipend/provided housing during the season.

And the new salary cap has upped the minimum salary to $40,000 in MLS anyways. If you take away the developmental guys, MLS salaries are not THAT bad considering the league they play in.

http://www.usatoday.com/sports/soccer/mls/2009-salaries.htm

[Edited on March 24, 2010 at 8:32 PM. Reason : .]

3/24/2010 8:28:04 PM

i guess the best discussion would be a timeline for the MLS. at what point (assuming this is their end goal) would it be feasible to allow for salary expansion? They've been in existence for what, 14 years now? That's pretty impressive for a league with very little fan support during its inception. the next move has to be to grow in support, and to eventually, some day, become the marquee league for domestic soccer worldwide. i mean, eventually, the MLS has to have the revenue to pay its players the equivelent of top flight leagues in Europe. Not to mention that it will eventually have to adopt the European schedule in order to better coincide with international play (which will be hard, because it would pit it up against other American revenue sports leagues).

It's my personal belief that the MLS will have to be the best soccer league in the world if US soccer is to become a international powerhouse. I'd probably even argue that this will have to occur before the US can be the dominant soccer nation. I know i'm being impatient, but I would like to see this in my lifetime. Basically, I want to see a mission statement from the MLS and a 15 year plan, because simply "staying afloat" will not be enough in the end.

3/24/2010 8:34:45 PM

Quote :

"MLS issued a clarification on the new roster and salary guidelines: Each club may have between 18 and 20 players on the senior roster, each of whom will count toward the $2.55 million salary cap. Clubs may have up to four players that do not count against the cap (Generation adidas players or those earning the $40,000 minimum). In the event MLS expands rosters for the purpose of a reserve division, additional players will be known as "apprentices" and earn $31,250. Also, as I understand it, homegrown players (signed from a club's academy) are exempt from roster and salary rules."

http://voices.washingtonpost.com/soccerinsider/2010/03/wednesday_kickaround_53.html#more

They're addressing salaries. They've also allowed for up to 4 players (those who have signed Generation Adidas deals - salaries paid by Adidas and not the league - and two "homegrown" players who come up through the teams' academies) to not count against the cap at all. And there's the Designated Player rule, where only $415,000 counts against the cap and the team pays the rest. I can see the league adding more slots per team if necessary in the future.

Allowing teams to get young talented players on rosters without having to fit them in under the cap is a step in the right direction. With all the work permit issues in Europe, a 17 or 18 year old has two options - play for next to nothing in MLS or waste 4 or 5 years of their career in college, which isn't proper training for talented players. And I'm more concerned about developing young American talent and giving them a place to play instead of having them ride benches in second and third crappy European leagues.

The goal for MLS in the next 5-10 years has to be a feeder league that produces more Jozy Altidores and Michael Bradleys that get experience, make the league better, and then go to Europe to continue to get better.

^ and they're way past the point of "staying afloat," MLS is here to stay. Especially now that almost every team has their own stadium

[Edited on March 24, 2010 at 8:52 PM. Reason : .]

3/24/2010 8:51:35 PM

^^^How does Beckham make $5.5mil? Is he paid by his European team?

[Edited on March 24, 2010 at 8:53 PM. Reason : ^^^]

3/24/2010 8:52:43 PM

^^oh, i definetely agree that the MLS is here to stay. i just admittedly don't know what their plans of expansion are. and the "feeder league" model will have to eventually be overtaken as a destination league (i just don't know when). i'm actually quite impressed with the MLS business decisions. it seems that they learned a lot from the mistakes of the NASL

3/24/2010 9:01:13 PM

I'm pretty sure they pay the pro-rated share of his current salary as long as he plays for Milan. Although, I think he took a pay cut the first time he went on loan just so he could do it. I'm not exactly sure on the details.

^ Garber has always said that a 20 team league is his goal for as long as he's commissioner. And Montreal will eventually be the 19th team soon enough, after Vancouver and Portland join.

[Edited on March 24, 2010 at 9:03 PM. Reason : Don]

3/24/2010 9:02:14 PM

^^^MLS created the "Designated Player" rule, aka "The Beckham Rule." A team can pick 1 player to give the bank to and it only counts for $400,000 of the team salary cap which the league pays for each team under the single entity system. The team owners have to cover the rest of that players contract. If a player was to be signed for 1 million dollars per year then under the DP rule the owners of that players team would have to pay the extra $600,000 each year. You can also trade your DP to another team for a player since each team is given 1 DP. That is how NY ended up getting Angel and Reyna after they took Chivas USA's DP in a trade for a player. No team is allowed to have more than 2 DP's though.

[Edited on March 24, 2010 at 9:07 PM. Reason : .]

3/24/2010 9:06:39 PM

http://www.mlssoccer.com/content/mls-expands-designated-player-rule

New DP rules. All teams get 2 DPs and can buy a 3rd, if they want to.

4/1/2010 1:13:51 PM

damn too bad I'll be at Red Bull Arena in July, before Henry and Raul get there

4/1/2010 1:35:39 PM

This could make the league more interesting once they grab more strikers from Central and South America and mix them with under paid defenders and goalkeepers.

4/1/2010 1:40:39 PM

eh, I don't think there'll be much difference league-wide. This is just a move to satisfy the big dogs

4/1/2010 1:55:04 PM

^True, but back when Beckham signed with LA they also signed Ruiz, and had Donovan which resulted in under paid defenders and LA giving up lots of goals (NY 5 LA 4).

4/1/2010 2:15:36 PM

Quote :

"This could make the league more interesting once they grab more strikers from Central and South America and mix them with under paid defenders and goalkeepers. "

hahha, thats a funny statement

4/1/2010 2:43:14 PM

^^ thanks for the MLS history

4/1/2010 2:46:17 PM

^^It's the truth though. In Beckham's first year at LA he took up $415,000 of the $2.3 million dollar salary cap. Then Donovan was paid almost 1 million, but MLS ignored its own rules by "grandfathering" his contract and let him stay in LA. Then they signed Carlos Ruiz to help on offense. After that they had little money left to fill the other 25 roster spots, so one of their starting defenders was making $30,000 and retired after his first season in MLS. This resulted in LA giving up lots of goals/creating lots of offense and excitment for the other teams.

4/1/2010 2:54:00 PM