What Changes Should Be Made to Salary Budgets?

Some of these things already exist like keeping 100% of the sale on homegrowns
Rumors of U22 players no longer being tied to a DP is the big one right now..
Going to a pure cap with a floor and a ceiling makes sense.
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DP players not counting towards the cap would be my suggestion.
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Homegrown players first contact not counting and letting teams have an advantage offering more money on the second contract.
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Also just get rid of homegrown territories and let teams recruit just like college.
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The internal sale of players in MLS would also be better than trades.

 

So tomorrow is the day when they meet to finalize the new rules. I can't imagine they'll be seismic.

 

It would be ironic if they were released at MLS HQ in New York the other day.
It would have been "seismic."

 

If transfer fees weren't counted against the cap, yes, very doable. Matter of fact, excluding transfer fees from the salary cap mechanism would be MLS best upgrade. They wouldn't even need to raise the cap. Just leave it as is but exclude transfer fees.

 

They are excluded from the cap for U-22 players,

 

Pre-Messi last season, Toronto had the highest payroll at just shy of $26 million, while Montreal had the lowest at $10.5 million, and the average was about $15.5 million.

Set a $30 million cap and a $10 million floor with a 5% annual increase, and get rid of every player spending and acquisition method that has an acronym.

Include a luxury tax over $30 million if you want to get fancy. Just simplify all of it and let teams operate freely.

 

What is regularly forgotten in these discussions is that the vast majority of American players who can realistically help MLS are already in MLS.

So making more money available only helps if you can bring in more/better international players, otherwise the current American players just get paid more.

 

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I know. They should do the same with the rest.

 

MLS/US is different from any other league in terms of domestic players. We have teams play with what would be considered 11 foreigners in any other place yet in MLS some count as "domestic". Any player with a Green card is considered a domestic player for MLS and as per US law. Getting a green card for many MLS foreign players ranges from months to a bit over a year. There have been some exceptions though. In Mexico, for example, a domestic is a Mexican citizen (by birth, by parents if born abroad or by naturalization). Everyone that doesn't meet those requirements is a foreigner. If MLS did the same and said domestic players will only be those that have US citizenship there would be lawsuits, or so that's what has been said would happen if they did that.

"Domestic" players can improve greatly if many of the salary rules restrictions are lifted.

 

But not immediately. Anyone who already qualifies as domestic that would help the league and is likely to come is already here. And some green cards are easy for some players, if the player wants to do the work (see Reynoso). For others based on their origin and their background its significantly harder.

Point is, just lifting the cap isn't an immediate fix if you don't change the international rules. Its still a long-term move, just somewhat faster than the current model.

 

Well of course. It may take months, one or two years.

Not true. Foreign players that arrived in this past off season, for example, will get a green card sooner or later. They'll count as domestic as soon as they qualify for the green card. Wash, rinse and repeat.

Agree but as I said, there are exceptions. Depends on many factors such as country of origin, how good the team's Immigration lawyers are at filing all the paperwork and how quick the government approves and changes their status to Permanent Legal Residents.

What International rules need to be changed? It's US law and this US law is what helps MLS define and classify a "domestic". Having better cap rules (as some suggested in this thread) would help bring in better players. Those players would eventually stick around, get their green card and count as domestic.

We aren't like Mexico, Costa Rica, Brazil, Argentina etc where players need to live a minimum of 5 years, apply for citizenship, become citizens of that country and not count as foreigners anymore. In this MLS has a big advantage over many leagues around the world due to US labor laws.

 

Hell yeah.

Are you implying that there's a downside?

 

If the Americas had something similar to what the European Union has then, yea, Mexicans, Canadians, Americans, Brazilians etc would all count as domestic in any league here in the Americas. We don't.

Not all Hispanic players qualify. There are certain requirements that will give you that fast track. Having certain last names also helps.

Yes, Brazil increased their foreign limit. Who are foreigners in Brazil? Anyone that isn't a Brazilian citizen.You are either a Brazilian citizen or not, if you are not you count as a foreigner. Try that here in the US see how it goes.

We have teams like Portland that have 6 players that are US citizens in a roster of 30 players. 1 of those 6 US citizens is a Naturalized citizen who has been living in the US since 2011. Bravo is also a citizen but I have no idea if he naturalized or has parents that are USC. Either way, just 6 players out of 30!

 

So then they don't already count as domestic, and they're already here. Considering my statement was "Anyone who already qualifies as domestic that would help the league and is likely to come is already here" I'm not sure how non-domestic players who are already here refutes that.

The USSF could lift the # of internationals per team cap. (AIUI that rule comes from the USSF, not MLS directly)

 

They can reduce it too it won't make any difference. Green card holders count as domestic and it doesn't take that long to get one. That's never been one of the problems for MLS. The type of quality of foreigners they can bring in is the problem.

Where are you getting from that I have a problem with number of foreigners? I'm saying the opposite. If we had better quality foreigners that count as domestic due to Green cards that would make MLS better.

 

Are you intentionally trying to miss my point now? Nobody who MLS signs with any additional money would likely count as domestic when they sign them. Because they don't have a green card yet, no matter how quickly they might get one. The exception would be Americans, but the vast majority of Americans who would improve the league and be willing to join it, regardless of the salary cap, already have.

Any idea that raising the cap on tis own, to take advantage of the Messi effect, will improve the league while he's here is unlikely (unless he extends his contract). There just isn't enough time to raise the cap and find enough better international players to fill the limited slots. On its own its a long-term play, not a short-term "cash in on the Messi effect" one.

 

I know some MLS fans defend everything MLS owners do to death but I don't know how exactly is adding more silly ass rules is even defendable at this point. Instead of simplicity they continue to with complexity.

On @PaulTenorio's reporting of the new roster rules coming to MLS this summer... one that was discussed but not coming (yet)?

An "Icon Player" rule to re-sign vets.

In CSO discussions on rules, one CSO said 'why not just call it the Carlos Vela rule?'https://t.co/KcAK2t2ax5

— Tom Bogert (@tombogert) April 15, 2024

 

Isn't this tweet explicitly about them choosing to not add a "silly rule"?

 

Haven't add it yet. Hope they don't but if they do they'll go the route of something like; "Icon player" (anyone in team for X amount of years and X age) with salary of TAM range to DP will have a cap hit of $200k or something. Which is exactly what I'm talking about. If they can reduce the cap hit on certain players just do it on the entire roster.

When that rule came out I said that MLS just likes to add restrictions on top of whatever additions they do. Always. Some here on Bigsoccer were trying to argue that the U22-I rule coupled with the DPs was to help MLS improve the rosters. So much for improvement. They saw their mistake and corrected it. Yes, I do like this change. It should have been done from the beginning instead of adding roadblocks and restrictions on it.

But now MLS being MLS did it again. On that new rule change the 4 U22+ 2DP+ $2M GAM is a better option than the 3 U22 + 3 DP option. They are rewarding you if you choose one option over the other one. Just like they did with the U22-I rule. Why not just give everyone $2M extra in GAM and let them decide which of the 2 options they prefer? I know some will defend this 4 U22/2 DP/$2M GAM to death but MLS will eventually just end up giving everyone $2M GAM regardless of the option team goes with. Again, this $2M GAM extra should've just be given to everyone, period.