The biggest MLS payroll is only more than twice the size of the smallest. In the EPL, the biggest payroll is more 18 times that of the smallest. In the Bundesliga, the ratio is more than 22.
Yep, that's a decent balance. In sports that even have soft caps -- and MLS operates like a soft cap, like the NBA because of the DP rule -- teams that spend more can be beaten by teams that spend smarter. In the EPL, it's rare to impossible. Manchester United has made dumb move after dumb move, but they just spend their way out of it. I get that most Americans are okay with that, but that's because most Americans are bandwagoners in terms of their European clubs. "I don't have a problem with it" says the person who claims that Man United is their club but its not because they won all the time when they became a fan. In MLS, if Portland didn't have a chance at success -- and they'd be the Bristol of a wide open MLS -- then they wouldn't have built such a great soccer culture there. European leagues can stand up to these issues in large part because they built a culture and fanbase when the home team was literally the only team in town, and you couldn't see anything else. MLS is trying to build when I can access any game I want worldwide, and I can also go see four other professional sports in my town. (There's another reason Portland has done so well -- just the Trailblazers to compete with ... whereas the NY teams have 2 MLB, 2 NFL, 2 NBA, 3 NHL, 1 WNBA, and oh, NYC.) I'd like the whole league to spend more, but I'm not interested in a league where one team has a $100M payroll and another $10M.
It's a bit "unfair" to some players but I think USSF is going in the direction of insisting that their players have a minimum of skills.
The interesting thing in MLS is that the payrolls are close enough that to almost be irrelevant. Two times as much doesn't seem to matter if the right investments are made. Colorado won the West with one of the smallest payrolls. TFC was one of the worst teams in the league with one of the highest. FCD and NYRB both won supporter's shields with the lowest payrolls. The evidence goes on. Get your highly paid foreign signings right, and you have a chance to win. See New England. Get them wrong and you don't. See Dallas.
Top to bottom isn't important to me. There's all sorts of reasons why payroll can fluctuate. What I want is a league in which every team, if run correctly for a number of years, can build a championship contender. The problem isn't big spenders and low spenders, or great teams and bad teams, but the situation where a team, by basis of where it is (i.e. market) can't possibly compete for a title. What's the point of that? Why is that team in the league? And in European soccer, that's well over half the league if not literally 80% of the league in some cases. Having a Bayern-esque hegemon is terrible.
I mean MLS forces teams to spend a minimum amount. Imagine the Premier League giving teams $135 million in TV money and specifying that they need to spend at least $75 million in salaries. Brentford are spending around a quarter of that according to Sporttrac.
I sort of view it as a interesting data point that’s definitely not dispositive. They also have Dike valued around $11 million compared to Pepi’s $8.8 million and I feel like Pepi will definitely go for more than Dike (though perhaps I’m wrong).
European interest in Bello https://www.ajc.com/sports/atlanta-...ions-league-clubs/IXLSY55IINGSLAEUPSGLUZQQQI/
If I'm Atlanta, Bello's a guy I sell quickly if the price is anything valuable. LB isn't a vital position, I have a prospect coming up, and Bello is still more potential than play right now.
Atlanta United President Darren Eales says Champions League and Europa League clubs are making inquiries about 19-year-old George Bello. (via @DougRobersonAJC) pic.twitter.com/99SKyYz7m4— USMNT Only (@usmntonly) November 9, 2021
8 goals and 2 assists in 840 minutes for Miguel Berry. Too bad C-bus just missed out on the playoffs. Brian White: 10 goals and 5 assists in his last 17 matches. Let's see what he can do in the playoffs.
With Andrew Gutman who Atlanta can recall (who is surplus with John Tolkin), Caleb Wiley who they can promote up, and even Jake Mulraney and Mikey Ambrose who can cover at left back (although not starter quality), I would sell George Bello in a heartbeat if the price was right.
Yup, more interesting to me was that they said they have yet to receive any inquiries for Miles Robinson. Like it's one thing to say they didn't get any offers to make it worth their while, but I guess it's surprising to me there's been no interest at all.
I'm sure they will do so. They should get some sell-on because he is very talented and being a legit MLS starter at 19 is a good sign.
Nice story about Cole Bassett, who after Transfermarkt updated its player valuations today is solidly in the top 5 among USMNT eligibles in MLS. "I've had to come off the bench a lot more than I would like."Wrote about Cole Bassett, a top young prospect in MLS yet still not an everyday starter for @ColoradoRapids, about putting Europe on hold to chase a trophy this fall:https://t.co/1NtvH1YqlL— Charles Boehm (@cboehm) November 9, 2021
Miles Robinson is on $700k. He is 24. He hasn't started against any of the European powerhouses in either friendlies or competition. Prospective teams can look up his salary. The ones that can offer a significant boost would likely want to first see him against stiffer competition. The ones that can't know not to inquire.
Keaton Parks out for the rest of 2021… bummer for him. Everyone at the Club wishes Keaton all the best during his recovery 💙 #NYCFC— New York City FC (@newyorkcityfc) November 9, 2021
Well, in some leagues in Europe there is a separate first-team budget, but also a substantial "shadow" budget that has to do with how much a club is spending on their youth academy, if they spend any at all. In Denmark FC København spend around $33 million on their first-team last season, all included (1st team player wages = around $19 million) plus an estimated $2.5 million on their academy, at FC Nordsjælland, they only spend $9.4 million on their first team (1st team player wages = around $7.5 million), but the club turnover (including their academy in Denmark and Right to Dream Academy in Ghana) was $29.9 million, of which they spend an estimated $7 million on their two (soon to be 3) academies. When you look at how much the two clubs spend on their first team, there seem to be a big difference, but when you consider that FC København spend quite a lot of money on established foreign NT players, while Nordsjælland are mainly fielding own youth (Scandinavian and African youth NT players) and look at how much money FC Nordsjælland are able to earn each year by selling young talented players, then it's questionable how big a difference in quality there really is between the two teams, except for the fact that FC København are fielding more experienced players and keep hold on their top talent a bit longer, while FC Nordsjælland deliberately only have 3 players in their first team above the age of 22. FC Nordsjælland : https://www.transfermarkt.com/fc-nordsjaelland/kader/verein/2778 Transfers : https://www.transfermarkt.com/fc-nordsjaelland/alletransfers/verein/2778 Transfers (Academy) https://www.transfermarkt.com/fc-nordsjaelland-u19/transfers/verein/14355 FC København : https://www.transfermarkt.com/fc-kopenhagen/kader/verein/190 Transfers : https://www.transfermarkt.com/fc-kopenhagen/alletransfers/verein/190 Transfers (Academy) https://www.transfermarkt.com/fc-kopenhagen-u19/transfers/verein/16104
It's now a bit more complicated than that, because the founder of Right to Dream, Tom Vernon, is no longer the majority shareholder : https://fcn.dk/2021/03/podcast-mohamed-mansour-loufty-mansour-tom-vernon-the-mansour-voice/
The goal is to expand, with the next step being an academy in Egypt, but then also with an academy and professional team in the USA.