Green ain't just on the Pitch

There's been much scuttlebutt today about MLS salaries now that the Major League Soccer Players Union has made the information public. Basically, the data says what we already knew: young reserve players have to scrimp by, and there are some well paid athletes who would be on the bottom of the scale in other countries or other sports.

The Union has revealed the players' base salary and their guaranteed compensation. The base salary is self-explanatory. The guaranteed compensation is explained this way:

The annual average guaranteed compensation number includes a player's base salary and all signing and guaranteed bonuses annualized over the term of the player's contract, including option years. For example, if a player has a base salary of $50,000, has a two-year contract with two one-year options and received a $10,000 bonus when he signed, his average annual guaranteed compensation would be $52,500 (base salary plus signing bonus ($10,000), with the signing bonus divided by the number of years covered by the contract (4)). The average annual guaranteed compensation number also includes any annual marketing bonus to be received in the current year and any agent's fees annualized over the term of the contract. The average annual guaranteed compensation figure does not include performance bonuses because there is no guarantee that the player will hit those bonuses.

Figures include income only from a player's MLS contract, and not from any deals he may have with his team or its affiliates.

There are 356 players in the league. The average guaranteed salary is $115,478 and the median -- the point at which an equal amount make above and below -- is $52,965. Nearly three-quarters of the players have base salaries of $100,000 or less. Thirty-two players earn the league minimum of $30,000, and developmental players get even less: 35 make $17,700 and 56 get $12,900.

Here are the top 10 paid MLSers this year. Claudio Reyna is the highest paid American, and exactly half of the top 10 is imported talent.


How do the Dynamo fare? Mulrooney and Ching are the highest paid players. DeRosario, still negotiating his raise, is fifth on the list. The average guaranteed salary is $83,724 and the median is $85,000. Wondo and new recruit John-Michael Hayden earn the minimum $30K (Holden makes only $1,500 more than the minimum) and we have two at $17,700 and six at $12,900. So, approximately 30% of the team makes less than $20K.


We have nine players (Ianni, who is a Generation Adidas player, and the sub-$20K group) who are Developmental players and don't count towards the salary cap. That means the 18 rostered players put the team at $2,001,549 in base salary. (Which is just over the $2MM cap, but some say the cap is $2.4MM. Hmm.)

Players' salaries have been a topic that's been beaten to death, but I'll join in on the horse-beating nonetheless. I understand the league's desire to remain solvent by limiting expenses, but I wholeheartedly agree with the argument that the salary minimum should be bumped up so players can make a living and so the sport can become a more attractive option for athletes.

The salaries for Developmental players are going to kids who are college age or just out of college. Starting salaries in the job market (outside of sports, where one has to work instead of play) wouldn't be very lucrative usually, particularly for the poor Liberal Arts major. In fact, the Developmental salaries are comparable to those of Minor League baseball. Still, increasing their pay to $26,000 would allow them to survive while they learn to play the professional game, and shouldn't put the MLS in dire financial straits. This would be approximately a doubling of the salary of 91 players (just over double for 56, just under double for 35). In lieu of increasing the salary of Developmental players, they could be offered assistance for living and travel expenses. The assistance wouldn't have to be monetary -- it could be a team-paid apartment reserved for the Developmental roster to share. Perhaps these players already receive something like this. The salary list includes only salary, not bonuses or any deals players may have with their team or its affiliates.

For rostered players, I think the salary should be bumped up to $50,000. That won't make the players rich, but would put them in the range of middle management salaries (but they get to play a game rather than deal with corporate shenanigans). The pay would provide a solid motivator to improve one's skills to move out of the Developmental level.

To truly help the quality of the league, the stars need to be justly compensated. I like the idea of salary caps as a way to instill parity into the league, but I look forward to the day when the cap is increased to allow the stars to get paid more (while giving the young and developing players a livable wage). MLS has been increasing the cap gradually over the years, and this should continue as revenues increase. To do otherwise is to sacrifice quality to protect parity.