Is there any possibility of a National Player rule in MLS? I don't know if this has been discussed before, but with Feilhaber in NE (making nearly DP money), is there any feasibility of letting teams in MLS have 1 or 2 American born (or Canadian) players that count only partially towards the cap? Would this even be a good idea? I know there are at least a few holes in the salary cap (Homegrown Players, Designated Players, Generation Adidas) that have helped to raise the talent level, but could adding a National Player Rule, where players from a senior national tame (don't know how exactly to delineate it, amount of caps on the senior team maybe) help the quality, and marketability of the league?
Hard to figure out how to apply that: An extra Designated Player slot is available USMNT players. The cap hit for a USMNT player is $100k. Something like that seems to be what your going for. Either way figuring out who qualifies would be a pain. Obviously we want guys like Teal Bunbury to stay in MLS but he has two caps and both in meaningless games -- does he get the nod now? Or a guys like Jimmy Conrad, or Josh Wolff who have been capped but are unlikely to be capped again. Feels like it would get tricky figuring it out.
@UpTheMetro, why would it not work legally? @NorthbankHighbury, that would be exactly what I would be looking for. At least until it is feasible to have a salary cap of around 10-15 million. The other purpose for it would to be to keep players like Agudelo, Bunbury, or players from the immediate past (Altidore, Johnson, Adu) for bolting to Europe before they were ready because the pay is so much better. With players like Davies, DeMerit, and Feilhaber all joining MLS it seems like it is something Garber should at least be considering.
Do you think Spanish basketball teams should create a salary cap exemption for national team players such as Pau Gasol, Rudy Fernandez, Marc Gasol or Jose Calderon so they come back home and play in Spain? Or do you think those players should be encouraged to stay and play in NBA where they are playing against the best basketball players in the world? Do you think having these players back in Spain instead of the NBA will help the Spanish national basketball team? I think the lack of a middle-class national team player in MLS is a good thing. I think it encourages them all to go and give it a shot where the best soccer is played, Europe. I think MLS will make a national team player a DP if they think it is worth it. Otherwise, keep using the allocaiton process and keep the player below DP money.
From a US Labor perspective you cannot penalize workers from achieving a specific title or salary if they have a green card. This is why green card holders don't count as international players in MLS. However, green card holders could never make the US national team, which prevents them from achieving the higher salary you propose.
@UpTheMetro, thanks. If that's the case you pretty much answered my question. @MLS2010 the thing with the Spanish basketball league is that they could pay to keep players, and often times do (ie Ricky Rubio). I'm just saying that the, as you call them, "middle-class national team" players are a huge salary hit for MLS teams. I'm not saying pay millions of dollars to bring Herculez Gomez or Chris Rolf, but salaries for those player or someone like Feilhaber or Charlie Davies could only count partially towards the cap, at least until the cap gets to a reasonable level (10-15 million level). Even below the DP level someone like Feilhaber (400,000 I think is his number for next year) or Davies (I believe he's in the upper 200,000) can be crippling on teams. These players would improve the MLS product and could possibly help to improve the NT product as well. Though as UpTheMetro pointed out, if it is against labor laws it would not work anyway.
I am for cutting down number Internationals (non-immigrant that didn't grew-up in the USA or Canada), but increasing salary cap for "quality" for International players, keep around 4 or 5 Internationals. No problem for players that get their Green Card. USNT regulars should earn somewhere 200k-600k without being DP & causing their teams salary cap issues. Example: Cherundolo wants to join the Timber, Cherundolo without causing salary cap issues & not being DP.
I thought the teams already receive something if some of their players play in the World Cup. Didn't RSL/LAG/CHIVAS receive anything last 2010?
I think --and I may be wrong-- that they receive payment for games missed by players in FIFA competitions. But it is not something that helps the salary cap.
Of course, the question you raise is totally irrelevant to the issue of what's best for the Spanish basketball LEAGUE. As a side note...is your screenname ironic?
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Liga_ACB I do not think they have a CAP in the Spanish B-ball league. They do have playoffs and pro/rel