A Brief Explanation of MLS terms for Neophytes/Newbies

Below is a brief list of the differences in regulations between MLS and other international leagues and/or other US major leagues. I recommend anyone taking an interest in MLS to use this as a pre-read. Please add to, or correct in your replies.

Major League Soccer (MLS)
A professional soccer league sanctioned by the United States Soccer Federation representing the highest level of soccer in the US and Canada headed by Don Garber

United States Soccer Federation (USSF)
The governing body of US Soccer headed by Sunil Gulathi.

Conference
MLS is divided into 2 Conferences, the Eastern Conference and the Western Conference, each containing 11 teams (or clubs). 19 teams are based in the US and 3 in Canada.

Regular Season
The regular season runs from March to October, with each team playing 34 matches.

Supporter's Shield
The Supporter's Shield is awarded to the the team with the overall best record during the regular season.

MLS Cup
At the end of the each season the top 6 teams from each Conference play-off for the MLS Cup, the winner of which is considered the overall MLS champion.

Lamar Hunt US Open Cup
A separate knockout Cup competition which includes professional and amateur clubs affiliated to US Soccer.

Unbalanced Schedule
A league system where teams don't play each other the same number of times. This can be done to reduce travel and related expenses. In the 2016 season each team played each the other teams in their own conference 3 times and teams in the other regional conference once.

Single Entity
Instead of operating as an association of independently owned teams MLS is a single entity in which each team is owned and controlled by the league's investor operators.

Investor Operators
Investor operators are often incorrectly described as owners. The investor-operators control their teams as do owners in other leagues but they are actually shareholders in the league.

Promotion/Relegation
As MLS is a single entity with a high entry cost, it does not consider promotion on merit from lower leagues as financially viable, and does not relegate teams based on on the field performance. This is a controversial source of debate among American and Canadian fans.

Allocation Money
Allocation money is the monopoly money of MLS. If the MLS allocation budget was a pie, then each club would own a share of that pie. The size of the pie may increase or decrease over time as may a club's share of the overall pie, but it's still a pie. This is different to most sports leagues where independent clubs cook their own pies and hand a slice over to the governing body. There are circumstances where MLS clubs are allowed to decorate their own piece of pie, for instance by signing a Designated Player, without increasing their overall share.

Each season MLS distributes allocation to teams based on various criteria. The totals to each team are not declared. In addition a team can receive targeted allocation money (see below). Allocation money can be used to reduce the impact of salaries against the salary cap, for instance, it can be used to offset a DP salary bringing it back into a normal salary slot, by reducing cap charge below $480,625 (2017), or used to acquire players outside the MLS.

Expansion
MLS currently comprises of 22 clubs, with another being added in 2018. Is looking to expand to 28 clubs by 2024. The current bidding for places 25 and 26 closes on January. Place 24 is currently earmarked for Miami be could be up for bidding if the consortium proposing the bid does not come up with firm plan by a certain date.

Defunct Teams
Teams which no longer play in MLS or no longer exist. Miami Fusion, Tampa Bay Mutiny and Chivas USA are the only 3 defunct teams to date.

Expansion Fee
Each new investor operator is required to pay a fee, currently somewhere between $120 and $150 million, in order to become an investor/shareholder in MLS.
Soccer Specific Stadiums
Soccer specific stadiums are stadiums primarily designed for soccer. The first in MLS was built in Columbus in 1999. Plans and financing for a soccer specific stadium is usually a pre-requisite for an MLS expansion bid. By the end 2018 there 17/23 clubs will have soccer specific stadiums.
“Downtown” Stadiums
Stadiums easily accessible from downtown areas are considered more attractive than out of town stadiums. For this reason, downtown locations are considered preferable and this is taken into account as part of an expansion bid.

Roster (Squad) Rules
Each team can have a roster of up 28 players, 18 of whom can be selected for each match. Roster spots 1 to 20 are considered the senior roster, spots 21 to 24, the supplemental roster and spots 25 to 28 the reserve roster. Not all roster spots need to be filled. Slots 21-24 may be filled with senior minimum salary budget charge players, which may include homegrown players, generation Adidas players, or players eligible for the MLS SuperDraft. All Generation Adidas players are Supplemental Roster players.

International Roster Slots (Foreign Player Rule)
In 2016 160 international roster spots were divided among the 20 clubs. These spots are tradeable, so some clubs may have more, and some or less, than 8 and there is no limit per team. The remaining roster spots must be filled by domestic players. In the US a domestic player is a U.S. citizen, permanent resident or the holder of another special status (refugee, asylum etc). In Canada: a domestic player is a Canadian citizen, the holder a special status or a US domestic player. Canadian clubs are required to have a minimum of 3 Canadian domestic players on their rosters. Recently it was agreed that Canadian Generation Adidas players playing for US clubs would be counted as domestic.

Disabled List
In the event a player suffers an injury that will prohibit him from participating in six or more MLS games, a club can place that injured player on the Disabled List for a minimum of six MLS games and may not participate in any exhibition games or tournaments in that time. If a player suffers a season-ending injury, a club may place that injured player on the season-ending injury list and receive roster relief spot opened.

Salary Cap
The salary cap limits the player payroll for roster slots 1 to 20 of each team to $3.845 million with the exceptions. The maximum cap salary for any player is $480,625. Roster spots 19 and 20 do not need to be filled without impacting the overall budget. A minimum salary budget charge will be imputed for each unfilled senior roster spot below 18. The salaries of players on the supplemental roster (spots 21-24) and reserve roster (spots 25-28) do not count toward a club’s Salary Budget. All players on the supplemental roster must be paid a base salary which is at least the senior minimum salary which was $62,500 in 2016.

Designated Player
A designated player is a player who's full salary is considered outside of the team's salary cap (either by offering the player higher wages or by paying a transfer fee for the player), allowing MLS teams to compete for star players in the international soccer market. Each team is assigned to designated player slots but a third can be added subject to a "luxury tax" of $250,000 which is distributed to the other teams equally in the form of allocation money. For each DP over 23 $335,000 is counted towards the salary budget (half that if he signs mid-season), for a player is between 21 and 23 it's $200,000 and $150,000 for an under 21.

Targeted Allocation Money
Targeted allocation money can be used in several ways: to acquire players outside the MLS (unlike general allocation money, however, targeted allocation money can only be used for players earning more than the maximum salary budget charge, which in 2017 is $480,625); convert a Designated Player to a non-Designated Player by buying down his salary budget charge to below the maximum salary budget charge, provided the club signs a new Designated Player at an investment equal to or greater than the player he is replacing; reduce the salary budget charge of one of its existing Designated Players to below the maximum, provided the club then signs a Designated Player at an investment equal to or greater than the player being bought down; trade it to another team for any value desired. Major League Soccer recently announced that each of the league's 22 clubs will now receive a total of $1.2 million of Targeted Allocation Money (TAM) in 2017, an increase of $400,000 per club from the previously announced $800,000 that was originally earmarked for 2017.

Home Grown Rule
The Homegrown Player Rule allows MLS teams to sign local players from their own development academies directly to MLS first team rosters. Before the creation of the rule in 2008, every player entering Major League Soccer would have to be assigned through one of the existing MLS player allocation processes, such as the MLS SuperDraft. Homegrown players will not count against the salary budget only if they are registered using supplemental roster slots, but will still count against the salary budget if they are registered using senior roster slots. There is, however, supplementary salary budget made by MLS only for homegrown players that are registered using senior roster slots called homegrown player funds. To place a player on its homegrown player list, making him eligible to sign as a homegrown player, players must have resided in that club's home territory and participated in the club's youth development system for at least one year, as well as meeting other unspecified league requirements.

Generation Adidas
Generation Adidas is a joint venture between MLS and U.S. Soccer aimed at raising the level of young professional soccer talent in the US and Canada.The program offers professional-ready players in the U.S. developmental system, not yet eligible for the MLS Super Draft early entry. This allows MLS to compete with foreign professional clubs without comparable restrictions on player signing. Generation Adidas players do not count against the MLS senior roster and usually earn a much higher salary than the league minimum. Entering into the program automatically classifies a player as professional, and thus disqualifies them from playing college soccer. As a result, Generation Adidas players are also guaranteed scholarshipsto continue their college education if their pro career doesn't pan out.

Affiliates
Each MLS team is required to have an affiliate in the United Soccer League (=second tier in the US soccer pyramid), These affiliates can be reserve teams fully owned by their parent clubs, or teams independently owned clubs which are sometimes used to "blood" supplemental roster players. MLS clubs may sign players from their USL affiliate for up to 4 days at a time for non-MLS matches. Players may also be signed to Short Term Agreements for MLS league season games but only in cases of Extreme Hardship.

Allocation Process
The mechanism used to determine which MLS Club has first priority to acquire a player listed on the Allocation Ranking List. This consists of select USMNT players, elite youth USMNT players, or former MLS players returning to MLS after joining a non-MLS club for a transfer fee greater than $500,000. The Allocation Ranking List will be updated once a year on the day after the conclusion of the MLS regular season.

Super Draft
The 2016 MLS SuperDraft consisted of four rounds for a total of 81 player selections. The first two rounds took place on Jan. 14 in Baltimore and the final two rounds took place on Jan. 19 via conference call. Draft prospects include are NCAA college seniors, Generation Adidas players and non-collegiate international players, Clubs may nominate players for the League’s Draft-Eligible List, and only players from that list may be selected.
The Super Draft order is set by taking the reverse order of the club standings at the end of each MLS season, taking postseason performance into account, with new expansion clubs at the top of the order. Unless claimed on waivers, a player who was drafted by a particular team through the Super Draft and did not sign with the League, is placed on that team’s “College Protected List” until December 31st of the year after the draft, after which the team loses the priority to sign the player.

Trades
An MLS player may be transferred or loaned at any time to a non-MLS club (subject to that club’s Federation’s transfer window), subject to the consent of the player. Loaning clubs receive roster relief and budget space subject to the terms of the loan. Clubs receive 2/3 of the transfer or loan fee revenue (including agent fees and other expenses), from any transaction involving a player that is NOT a Homegrown Player, Generation Adidas Player, or player acquired via the MLS Super Draft. A club shall receives 3/4 the corresponding transfer or loan fee revenue (including agent fees and other expenses) from any transaction involving a homegrown player (regardless of service years). Up to $650,000 of the club’s share of transfer or loan fee revenue may only be used as general allocation money. The remaining balance is available for: expenses incurred by the club in relation to the costs of an existing or new Designated Player or, with league approval, clubs can use the revenue against an expense that would not otherwise have been incurred by the club which reasonably represents an investment in the league or club (e.g. youth development and training facilities).
Players, SuperDraft picks, General and Targeted Allocation Money, Allocation Rankings and International Player Slots may all be exchanged in trades approved by the MLS League Office, provided all of the necessary rules regarding roster and salary budget compliance are met and the trade is completed during a valid trading period. During the season trades must occur during either transfer window.

Discovery Process
Clubs scout and sign players who are not yet under contract to MLS and who are not subject to another assignment mechanism (e.g. Allocation Process, SuperDraft). To sign a player through the Discovery Process, the club must first place the player on its Discovery List. A club may have up to seven unsigned players on its Discovery List at any time and may remove or add players at any time. There is no limit to how many players a club can sign from its Discovery List. If one or more clubs try to add the same player to their Discovery Lists, the club that filed the claim first will have the priority right to sign the player. If one or more clubs submit a discovery request on the same day, then the club with the lowest points-per-game in the current MLS regular season will have the priority right to sign the player.

Re-entry Process
The priority order for the re-entry draft is reverse order of finish in 2016, taking into account playoff performance. It includes players: at least 23-years-old with a minimum of three MLS service years whose options were not exercised by their clubs; players who are at least 25-years-old with a minimum of four years of MLS experience who are out of contract and whose club does not wish to re-sign them at their previous salary. Free Agents that choose to participate.

Free Agency
Players 28-years-old and older with eight years of MLS service who are out of contract, or have not had their option exercised, are eligible for Free Agency allowing them the freedom to negotiate a new contract with any MLS club, including their previous club, subject to certain restrictions.

Waivers
A club may place a player on Waivers (transfer list) at any time during the regular season at which point he is made available to all other clubs.

 

@Ismitje Can be re-opened for editing?

 

Thanks, I'll copy and paste it and edit it offline and then send it to you.

 

I know I've missed something important. Any ideas?

 

Player acquisitions/roster rules - see here for full size charts

 

Players aquisition/roster rules from si.com. Click to expand.