I think it's willing to do something different than they did the last time but you don't admit that three years before you seek a new deal. First off, who knows what the situation will be at the end of the Apple deal? If you want local TV, that doesn't mean local TV wants you. Not going against football might be smart but right now the NHL & NBA are in playoff mode and not only would MLS be competing with these two leagues but if they left Apple, besides Fox who's left to broadcast games? ESPN is broadcasting both the NHL & NBA games with ABC, NBC, Prime, Peacock, TNT, TruTV in the mix was well. So are they doing a deal with CBS or some other provider like DAZN? . The part about the transfer window I do agree with is it's probably easier to move players at the start and end of your season. Saving money just comes down to how much they are willing to spend. Until MLS is a premiere destination which it will never be any day soon, they'll overpay for big names.. . Where I believe they should over pay is to retain young players who developed in MLS. I rather see a player like GOZO sold to a team in MLS willing to pay for him than some team in Europe that's outside the big five. Of course that also depends on the player and their wishes but I think it they over spent a little some would stay. As a Union fan, I'm starting to see multiple former Academy players on other MLS teams and it gives you a reason to watch teams like Houston, San Diego, Colorado.... just out of familiarity and to see how they are progressing, much like I do with Kai Wagner in the Championship.
Yes. MLS teams can spend significant money even with current rules yet aren't doing it. You have the "big market" teams like CFG or Red Bull go years without filling up all 3 DP spots. And when they do get DPs they are underwhelming to say the least coming from the supposedly most richest teams in MLS. CFG has teams all over the world in leagues without a strict salary cap and in none do they over spend or try to be the best. Other of course than ManC and RB Leipzig. Not even in Brazil which both have clubs do they try to compete with Flamengo or Palmeiras. LAFC is also another big market team that goes years without maximizing current salary cap rules. I don't know where people get that idea that MLS teams will start spending like Saudi League. He might want to but CFG won't let him even if MLS permits it. CFG only cares about ManC. Winning MLS Cup isn't going to make them richer. CFG will get more money by winning the Brasileirao, Brazilian domestic cup and Copa Libertadores yet aren't even pushing for it. They have the money and resources to compete and win. There is no salary cap to hold them back and nothing preventing them from becoming a South American giant in CONMEBOL. They won't change and all of a sudden and start caring enough to constantly win MLS and CCC just because MLS allowed "super teams".
I suppose this is as good a place as any for this. MLSPA has released salary information for the first pasrt of 2026: https://mlsplayers.org/resources/salary-guide Top and bottom spending teams on salary only in 2026:1. Inter Miami, $54.6m2. LAFC, $32.7m3. Atlanta United, $27.9m...28. CF Montréal, $13.4m29. Sporting KC, $12.4m30. Philadelphia Union, $11.7mAll team + player data belowhttps://t.co/VOqN2gbZDM— Tom Bogert (@tombogert) May 12, 2026
14% of the 73 continental and worldwide titles won by Spanish teams have been won by teams outside the big 3. 44% of the 59 continental and worldwide titles won by English teams have been won by teams outside the big 3*. *Liverpool (14), Manchester United (11) and Chelsea (8) are dominant in terms of international trophies. Man City and Tottenham are next with 4 each. So Barcelona and Real Madrid dominate but England has more depth.
4th DP slot but limit it to American and Canadian internationals (come home boys!). Maximum salary (budget cap hit) of $1.5 million (+GAM) Take transfer fees out of salary calculations. Maximum financial loss of $45 million over 3 seasons (business as usual for Toronto). Penalties can include losing a DP slot. Teams keep 80% of transfer fees (100% home-growns and draftees on first contact) Easing of home grown territories (you don't necessarily want Miami pinching entry promising kid)
With total wages of 624.9 for every team in MLS as reported above, I wonder what MLS3.0 might be? So, the real spending average with everyone included equally is 20.83 million per team. The first thing that jumps out is that Messi makes more than the actual average of every team in MLS. I wonder what the next CBA might be and how they will come up with more revenue to increase this number? Seems like the overall spend rivals most leagues in the western hemisphere but with 10 more teams. Also, the American dollar is stronger than a lot of other countries in this hemisphere. One other thing is that Vancouver jumped into the top five this year with over 25 million team spend but that is more like over 34 million with the conversion rate. Makes it easy to understand why they might lose 45 million this year when they make money in Canadian but pay in US dollars.
The Premier League is the richest league. LaLiga is the most successful in UEFA competition. But which league is the best at selling its players for top dollar?@RHT09_ crunches the numbers in his latest data analysis: https://t.co/LK2lh9xYvC pic.twitter.com/j5nMSIBNjk— Breaking The Lines (@breakthelines) May 13, 2026
"To measure this, a balanced algorithm was created based on three main components: – Total revenue from player sales – The ratio between transfer income and transfer spending – The average number of clubs in each league." MLS is #39. Not sure that this means anything. If MLS sells more young players and uses that money to pay transfer fees it will end up exactly where it is. It would a better indication if it focused on players under 25.
What was MLS like back in 2013? According to BWP it was the Ghetto The MLS has grown so much, but back in the day BWP said it was like the ghetto 😂 pic.twitter.com/LqDKk5BWK1— The Late Run (@TheLateRunShow) May 24, 2026
Sounds like even Clark Hunt is in favor of the restructuring of the league's rules: Thanks so much to @MattDoyle76 for running an excerpt from The Messi Effect in today's Tactics Free Zone newsletter. Going inside a product strategy committee meeting as league stakeholders weighed changes that would eventually become MLS 3.0.https://t.co/1rCN57HgWn pic.twitter.com/3XZCwpEdnE— Paul Tenorio (@PaulTenorio) June 5, 2026
That was Hunt accepting the U22-I rule change which he didn't like at first or didn't understand at first. What I take from this is that the "legacy" owners, and some other cheap owners, don’t want change. They want to copy the NFL model of competition. It works in the NFL not in soccer. It's why other owners are pushing aggressively for change. Also this quote from Garber; "By this time, this is what we want MLS to look like. Because how are you measuring that? Are you measuring it by your revenues? That’s what the NFL does. Are you measuring it by your quality of play? Are you measuring it by your position in the global marketplace?" Being saying MLS likes to brag about revenues as if that is sign of league improving. Well...it is for the owners as they are banking it and if you cheer for them to make more money than you should be glad. But for fans, paying customers, you want improvement in the field. How do you measure it? By testing yourself with other leagues/clubs. They mention it there in that article. It's not like they don't have the answer to their own question.
Matt Doyle's newsletter has the whole excerpt today and @jaykoz3 is correct, this was in reference to the calendar flip and the upcoming roster changes. Quoting a bit of it: Now we know they didn't get it done in time for the World Cup, but yes, Hunt did back this move.
They're not banking the revenues though are they? The revenues are tiny compared to other leagues/US sports. The Whitecaps revenue is around $40 million, which doesn't cover costs. They look at Miami and LAFC who are booking north of $150 million and making a modest profit. Olympique Lyon, as a totally random example, generated $273 million in revenue in their latest accounts.
Lyon may be a random example but they're no small market team. They'd be right around the bottom of the top 10 US markets.
I’m assuming “being saying MLS” is an autocorrect, but I can’t figure out what it’s supposed to be. Can you explain?
What does that matter? What I'm trying to emphasize is just how low MLS revenues are compared to even moderate sized teams elsewhere. Anyhoo, Mainz made around $1 million in their last reporting year.
Is like any other business if you spend 400 million and your revenue is 350 million, revenue looks impressive but is a bad business, but if your revenue is 40 million but you spend 45 million still is bad but not to much.
This is off-topic, but Lyon's metro population is 2.3 million. That's about equal with Cincinnati, which is around the 30th largest market in the US. Soccer just isn't popular in the US, so I think your larger point that it is difficult to compare MLS team revenues to European teams stands.
MLS teams are being run at a small loss (at least on the soccer side). We know from looking at the Forbes number that any increase in revenue increases is reinvested. MLS can't/won't compete with the top leagues until revenue is closer to theirs. Miami have increased revenue (and profits) dramatically with one signing but they can't spend because of the salary budget. So where do MLS owners go next...
Where they are going next is trying to increase the media revenue and see how much they need to invest to do that? There is a belief from owners who paid big money to get into the league that fans want to see a team that can compete on the world stage. The other side believes that eventually they will get there and stay the course. When Messi signed with the league he changed minds. The core MLS fans are already spending money that keep the league up and running but fans of soccer aren't interested for various reasons. Most owners had a wake-up call when they signed with Apple because no one came close to offering them the 400 million they were looking for and Apple was basically the only alternative. . Now the problem is how do you walk away from Apple if you can't prove to all the other media companies that you can generate revenue worth a big pay day. Both Liga MX and the Premier League generate more interest in the US right now and make it hard for "soccer fans" of the game to think MLS is nothing but a second tier league for retirement.