I keep hearing and reading articles and podcasts that talk about which team is spending how much and what their salary ranking is, but I have yet to find a ranked list of team payrolls so I decided to list them here. Spotrac keeps a detailed database of salary and payroll information, including compiled total team payrolls, but there is no way to get this in a ranked format on one page. Instead, you have to enter each team's payroll page where at the bottom of the list is the team's total salary. I'm surprised that there isn't a Wikipedia article that lists such things on a year-to-year basis for American sports teams. Editors seem to start articles about just about everything else. Granted, there are usually sports articles that present this already. It seems that maybe every other year a local or national publication might publish an article which lists teams in such a manner, but it isn't guaranteed, nor always notable. As I said before, podcasters and soccer media outlets seem to have this information readily to hand when they mention what their team is spending and how that compares to the rest of the league, but I have no idea whether they compiled this info themselves or there is some reference they're using that I haven't been able to find. I'd appreciate it if someone could let me know of one if it's out there. BTW, apparently some sides have some "dead money" invested in players who are no longer with their team. The way the data is listed makes it appear that it is not included with the team's total number. I was back and forth on whether or not to add it into the numbers here, but decided against it since I couldn't be certain that it wasn't actually included; and also because if it was not included a case could be made that it's a number that does little to represent the actual monetary investment made in the team. Here's a link to Spotrac.com's website where I got the salary info. It seems like a really good website despite not having a way to see a ranked list of team payrolls. Also, although it lists all of the latest transfers, it seems the salary data is only accurate through July. This is perhaps because, although the transfer deadline deals are all done and signed for, the actual salary data remains uncertain until the MLSPA decides to publish them. Total Rosters ranked by Guaranteed Salary (Senior, Supplemental and Reserve rosters included) Teams--------------------------------------Base Salary----------------Guaranteed Salary 1. Toronto FC------------------------------$19,936,487-----------------$22,244,535 2. Los Angeles Galaxy-------------------$17,733,772-----------------$18,514,139 3. Chicago Fire----------------------------$15,018,782-----------------$16,674,805 4. Los Angeles FC------------------------$12,227,813-----------------$14,439,693 5. Sporting Kansas City-----------------$12,382,926-----------------$13,013,585 6. Seattle Sounders FC-----------------$11,154,376------------------$12,531,291 7. Atlanta United FC----------------------$11,914,136-----------------$12,427,119 8. Montreal Impact------------------------$7,627,273-------------------$12,139,404 9. Portland Timbers-----------------------$11,188,200-----------------$11,786,333 10. Orlando City---------------------------$10,679,206-----------------$11,557,974 11. Columbus Crew----------------------$10,151,109-----------------$10,867,692 12. DC United------------------------------$10,146,574-----------------$10,571,569 13. Real Salt Lake-------------------------$9,652,680------------------$10,416,439 14. FC Cincinnati--------------------------$8,869,189------------------$10,241,912 15. New York City FC---------------------$9,559,922------------------$10,122,178 16. Philadelphia Union--------------------$8,298,012------------------$9,103,605 17. San Jose Earthquakes--------------$8,385,104-------------------$9,079,206 18. Minnesota United FC-----------------$8,275,462------------------$8,999,889 19. Colorado Rapids----------------------$8,029,993------------------$8,937,176 20. New England Revolution-------------$8,131,111------------------$8,930,469 21. FC Dallas-------------------------------$7,643,263------------------$8,551,844 22. New York Red Bulls-------------------$8,156,443-----------------$8,301,854 23. Houston Dynamo----------------------$6,951,539-----------------$7,510,630 24. Vancouver Whitecaps FC-----------$6,596,941------------------$7,248,349 Total Rosters ranked by Base Salary (Senior, Supplemental and Reserve rosters included) Teams--------------------------------------Base Salary---------------Guaranteed Salary 1. Toronto FC------------------------------$19,936,487--------------------$22,244,535 2. Los Angeles Galaxy-------------------$17,733,772----------------$18,514,139 3. Chicago Fire----------------------------$15,018,782----------------$16,674,805 4. Sporting Kansas City-----------------$12,382,926----------------$13,013,585 5. Los Angeles FC------------------------$12,227,813----------------$14,439,693 6. Atlanta United FC----------------------$11,914,136----------------$12,427,119 7. Portland Timbers-----------------------$11,188,200----------------$11,786,333 8. Seattle Sounders FC------------------$11,154,376----------------$12,531,291 9. Orlando City-----------------------------$10,679,206----------------$11,557,974 10. Columbus Crew----------------------$10,151,109----------------$10,867,692 11. DC United------------------------------$10,146,574----------------$10,571,569 12. Real Salt Lake-------------------------$9,652,680-----------------$10,416,439 13. New York City FC---------------------$9,559,922-----------------$10,122,178 14. FC Cincinnati--------------------------$8,869,189------------------$10,241,912 15. San Jose Earthquakes--------------$8,385,104------------------$9,079,206 16. Philadelphia Union--------------------$8,298,012-----------------$9,103,605 17. Minnesota United FC-----------------$8,275,462-----------------$8,999,889 18. New York Red Bulls------------------$8,156,443------------------$8,301,854 19. New England Revolution------------$8,131,111------------------$8,930,469 20. Colorado Rapids----------------------$8,029,993-----------------$8,937,176 21. FC Dallas-------------------------------$7,643,263-----------------$8,551,844 ?2. Montreal Impact-----------------------$7,627,273------------------$12,139,404 23. Houston Dynamo---------------------$6,951,539------------------$7,510,630 24. Vancouver Whitecaps FC-----------$6,596,941-----------------$7,248,349 Senior Rosters ranked by Guaranteed Salary Teams--------------------------------------Base Salary---------------Guaranteed Salary 1. Toronto FC------------------------------$18,895,286----------------$21,030,686 2. Los Angeles Galaxy-------------------$16,988,522----------------$17,724,081 3. Chicago Fire----------------------------$14,372,307----------------$15,997,955 4. Los Angeles FC------------------------$11,662,313----------------$13,867,292 5. Sporting Kansas City-----------------$11,819,326----------------$12,406,910 6. Seattle Sounders FC-----------------$10,645,801----------------$11,984,466 7. Atlanta United FC----------------------$10,937,528----------------$11,298,861 8. Montreal Impact------------------------$6,521,703------------------$10,929,361 9. Orlando City----------------------------$9,913,458------------------$10,684,789 10. Portland Timbers---------------------$9,823,725------------------$10,405,358 11. Columbus Crew----------------------$9,507,636------------------$10,128,469 12. New York City FC---------------------$9,016,100-----------------$9,542,039 13. Real Salt Lake-------------------------$8,712,543-----------------$9,453,719 14. FC Cincinnati--------------------------$8,125,262-----------------$9,414,909 15. Philadelphia Union--------------------$7,734,552-----------------$8,459,186 16. DC United------------------------------$8,082,070-----------------$8,448,996 17. Minnesota United FC----------------$7,593,262------------------$8,222,686 18. San Jose Earthquakes--------------$7,527,554-----------------$8,121,656 19. Colorado Rapids----------------------$7,209,657-----------------$8,036,215 20. New England Revolution------------$7,101,496-----------------$7,757,996 21. New York Red Bulls------------------$7,380,701-----------------$7,486,025 22. FC Dallas-------------------------------$6,752,263-----------------$7,466,944 23. Houston Dynamo---------------------$6,338,078------------------$6,857,169 24. Vancouver Whitecaps FC-----------$5,796,553------------------$6,307,495 Senior Rosters ranked by Base Salary Teams--------------------------------------Base Salary---------------Guaranteed Salary 1. Toronto FC------------------------------$18,895,286----------------$21,030,686 2. Los Angeles Galaxy-------------------$16,988,522----------------$17,724,081 3. Chicago Fire----------------------------$14,372,307----------------$15,997,955 4. Sporting Kansas City-----------------$11,819,326----------------$12,406,910 5. Los Angeles FC------------------------$11,662,313----------------$13,867,292 6. Atlanta United FC----------------------$10,937,528----------------$11,298,861 7. Seattle Sounders FC-----------------$10,645,801----------------$11,984,466 8. Orlando City----------------------------$9,913,458------------------$10,684,789 9. Portland Timbers----------------------$9,823,725------------------$10,405,358 10. Columbus Crew----------------------$9,507,636------------------$10,128,469 11. New York City FC---------------------$9,016,100------------------$9,542,039 12. Real Salt Lake-------------------------$8,712,543------------------$9,453,719 13. FC Cincinnati--------------------------$8,125,262------------------$9,414,909 14. DC United------------------------------$8,082,070------------------$8,448,996 15. Philadelphia Union--------------------$7,734,552-----------------$8,459,186 16. Minnesota United FC-----------------$7,593,262-----------------$8,222,686 17. San Jose Earthquakes--------------$7,527,554------------------$8,121,656 18. New York Red Bulls------------------$7,380,701------------------$7,486,025 19. Colorado Rapids----------------------$7,209,657------------------$8,036,215 20. New England Revolution------------$7,101,496------------------$7,757,996 21. FC Dallas-------------------------------$6,752,263------------------$7,466,944 22. Montreal Impact-----------------------$6,521,703------------------$10,929,361 23. Houston Dynamo---------------------$6,338,078------------------$6,857,169 24. Vancouver Whitecaps FC-----------$5,796,553------------------$6,307,495 MLS sides by transfer market value on transfermarkt.us Top 20 wage bills in Europe on talksport.com I wish I could find something on South American wage bills for comparison. Maybe I'll post some Liga MX salaries when I have time.
Copy, paste into Excel, sort by team, create a SUM function for each team. Takes a few minutes, but for the curious it's not hard.
Thank you. I didn't know that it would go into columns properly in Excel. FYI if you select cells it will tell your their sum without a formula.