Good day all this is my first post. I was watching FFF last night and they were talking about the wages im MLS. We all know about Beckham's outrageous contract but it's the others that concern me. They were saying the minimum wages were between $13,000 and $17,000. This can't be true. Can someone please clarify.
Before everyone jumps on your case for bringing up an old topic: https://www.bigsoccer.com/forum/showthread.php?t=531761 Its true, but the guys from FFF didn't exactly go into detail. Also https://www.bigsoccer.com/forum/showthread.php?t=531793
Developmental contracts (which this is in line with, and possibly even more than, alot of minor league athletes make...)
there are no mls minor league affiliates; therefore, each team has a development roster, attached to their senior roster, that is filled with young prospects who mostly compete in the mls reserve league. like the other poster noted, they get payed a comparable wage to most minor league athletes. so, its really not that big of a travesty. they choose to do this for a living, and no one is forcing them to sign with an mls club.
So, how much do regular players get? Let's say Taylor Twellman as he is been the leading scorer for a few years now on a successful team.
the link in the threads i sent you has every MLS players salary. http://www.mlsplayers.org/salary_info.html
the average mls player has a salary comparable to a regular professional with a college degree (40-80k). however, some of the better players, like twellman, can make several hundred thousand dollars a year. furthermore, each team can spend an unlimited amount of money on up to 2 players (they are called designated players and the roster spots can actually be traded). some of these players are mls products like landon donovan and eddie johnson who both make close to a million dollars a year. but most are international stars like beckham, juan pablo angel, claudio reyna, and cuauhtemoc blanco. those guys have multi-million dollar contracts that are just as lucrative as some nba, nfl, or major league baseball contracts, and they are competative with whatever top soccer clubs pay around the world. basically, there is a lot of salary disparity, but it is a result of the unusual salary cap rules of the league. however, it would seem that they are slowly moving away from that. over the next decade, a gradual increase in the minimum salary is planned. nothing drastic, but an increase nonetheless which indicates that an increase in the salary cap is coming as well. so as long as the rosters aren't expanded from the current 28 player limit, there should be more money available for players.
I suspect the next CBA negotiations will see a somewhat drastic jump. There is a lot more asked of developmental players now compared to a few years ago. We now have Superliga, an expanded CONCACAF Cup, more friendlies and a reserve league. Those players have a lot of leverage to ask for more.
Re: MLS Wages????T? The average salary is $115 thousand, which is up from about $80 thousand last year. But the designated players are a big factor in that, so the median is a little more telling. The median salary is $52,000, which is also up. Salaries have been gradually going up each year. http://collegetopros.blogspot.com/2007/05/2007-mls-player-salaries-dis-parity.html
Thanks for the replies. The guys on FFF made it seem as if the players were being robbed. The wages seem to be O.K. for most of the players and I can only see it getting better as the league is drawing more attention from outside the U.S.
That's because the guys on FFF are huge douchebags who only vaguely know what they're talking about (especially when it comes to MLS, but in general).