Should MLS stick with the salary cap or go to Revenue Sharing?

[Tony L]

This is kind of a double edge sword. We all want the league to grow and eventually compete with the best leagues in the world. So if you gut the cap, american players make more but they're not getting any better. If we keep the current system, American players make shit compared to their counterparts world wide, so any real homegrown talent that are just super stars will sign with foreign leagues that will pay them more (Miazga). What we need is more investment into player development, and then we need to be able to pay our homegrown talent a competitive salary to keep them here. In the end, that equates to money ... investment. Some clubs like ours are more wealthy than others. The less wealthier clubs will find investors to facilitate attracting better players. It will be unbalanced for a while but I think it will eventually stabilize. There will always be league oversight and some checks and balances in place to make sure it doesn't get too out of control. I just don't see a way around not bringing more money into the league to pass around ... as long is spent the right way.

 

[Fantazma]

This is kind of a double edge sword. We all want the league to grow and eventually compete with the best leagues in the world. So if you gut the cap, american players make more but they're not getting any better. If we keep the current system, American players make shit compared to their counterparts world wide, so any real homegrown talent that are just super stars will sign with foreign leagues that will pay them more (Miazga). What we need is more investment into player development, and then we need to be able to pay our homegrown talent a competitive salary to keep them here. In the end, that equates to money ... investment. Some clubs like ours are more wealthy than others. The less wealthier clubs will find investors to facilitate attracting better players. It will be unbalanced for a while but I think it will eventually stabilize. There will always be league oversight and some checks and balances in place to make sure it doesn't get too out of control. I just don't see a way around not bringing more money into the league to pass around ... as long is spent the right way.

very true ....youth system needs massive revamping and new investment. but in the end there will always be more "poorer" teams and the richer ones even if they all had an academy.

it also comes to the question of: can a kid make enough money to live by playing soccer or getting a degree still more of a safer choice to make a living. thats why many still go to college i think. that may also hinder some development, assuming they want a career in pro soccer.

 

[Tony L]

Also, money means little when you have proper player development. Look at what Leicester did to MCFC at a fraction of the cost.

 

[Fantazma]

Also, money means little when you have proper player development. Look at what Leicester did to MCFC at a fraction of the cost.

i havent looked at the whole roster but vardy didnt get "developed" in leicester though.....they have done good scouting i think in getting players that will give you more bang for your buck and ranieiri convincing them of the strategy and hard work and its working

 

[SoupInNYC]

A combination of all the major leagues. Salary floor. Soft cap. Tax if you go over the cap. Some incentives for home grown players not counting against the cap. Etc

To that last point, there has to be additional incentives beyond the homegrown player's initial contract. I'd hate to see guys like Morris and Zardes leave, and we've already had that happen with Yedlin and Miazga.

I don't know exactly what the extending homegrown player incentive should be, but something should be there. Maybe after the initial contract homegrown players act as a "Soft DP" if payed over $150k and their contract values max out there or something.

 

[Tony L]

Miazga is making the equivalent of $5 mil US playing for Chelsea. What incentive are they going to offer that beats that? But I get what you're saying.

 

[NickA]

There's just too much money thrown around in the European leagues and too much talent. We aren't in the transfer game either. How can we realistically expect to compete, not just now, but in the future? The league has to be very careful right now. There's new teams coming in and some money being spent on players. It is critical that all decisions are made to protect the league and not the owners. They need to slowly increase the cap and revenue share like the NFL. We HAVE to have parity in MLS right now. We need a median average of 20k fans for attendance. We need talent from all over the world, not just South & North America. There are tons of quality young players in the top leagues that need to be scouted and brought in. Let them develop here and we loan them out to European teams for some good money. Make this league a cash cow and then we can compete. Baby steps is necessary here, nothing that explodes ends well.

We will never compete against the NFL but could against the other sports. Looking at the NHL. It is the top hockey league in the world, yet it is not an American sport. It was actually founded a few years earlier than the the NFL. The NFL grew to this monster size because of TV. The NFL owns the networks. They are just too powerful. Even the Pro-Bowl drew 8 million viewers. So the TV money is a tough route. I am sure it will continue to grow, but we have a major up hill battle. We need exposure. Even non-sports fans here could tell you what the "2nd tier" leagues are. Ask anyone that doesn't watch sports and most could tell you what the NBA, NHL, MLB are. Mention MLS and good luck.

 

[SoupInNYC]

Miazga is making the equivalent of $5 mil US playing for Chelsea. What incentive are they going to offer that beats that? But I get what you're saying.

The incentive I'm talking about is cap-related, not salary related. Lets say NJRB wanted to keep Miazga and pay him that amount of money. What I am proposing is they would be able to pay him the $5m, but he wouldn't count as a DP, and his salary-cap hit would only be $150k.

This would allow the teams that want to hold on to that homegrown talent, to be able to do so and keep them in the league.

 

[jerseyhotspur]

doesn't the market do that already even with a cap? the cap just says if you can fit him in your roster. they aren't capping any individuals salary.

the way i see it, the salary cap was determined by an agreement between MLS and the players' union ($3.3 million in 2015) . . . not the market.

Aside from DP's, teams pay players' salaries for the year from that $3.3 million pool.

With the rest of the world, players can negotiate what ever salary a team is willing to pay. They don't have a $3.3 million limit.

 

[Dnigly13]

The incentive I'm talking about is cap-related, not salary related. Lets say NJRB wanted to keep Miazga and pay him that amount of money. What I am proposing is they would be able to pay him the $5m, but he wouldn't count as a DP, and his salary-cap hit would only be $150k.

This would allow the teams that want to hold on to that homegrown talent, to be able to do so and keep them in the league.

100% agree. similar to bird rights in the NBA, allow free agency, but incentivize players staying with original team. allow HG players to not count against the cap even i they get up tp dp level wages, etc.

 

[Rimil]

the way i see it, the salary cap was determined by an agreement between MLS and the players' union ($3.3 million in 2015) . . . not the market.

Aside from DP's, teams pay players' salaries for the year from that $3.3 million pool.

With the rest of the world, players can negotiate what ever salary a team is willing to pay. They don't have a $3.3 million limit.

but what I am saying is, the player negotiates and wants to make 1mm. The team says no I can't fit you into my cap. So the player doesn't sign with MLS and goes else ware. the market still determines his price, its just he won't be playing here. Players still get paid what they want to get paid (if they truly are worth 1mm).

Players are not hurt by the cap (generally, you could say they are hurt because they want to make 1mm and be in the MLS, but they aren't monetarily prevented from making 1mm), but the quality of the league gets capped.

 

[dannd23]

I think a salary cap is needed but it is too low right now. Also, I don't think DPs should have any hit on the cap and there should be one extra spot for a "Super DP" which is a marquis player that demands a big transfer fee(a la China).

Just think how much more competitive the league would be if there was 4 DPs and then a 7-8 million dollar cap. The only reason slow and steady growth has to happen is because the US soccer federation and MLS need to work together as it's in their best interest to grow American talent first.

 

[sbrylski]

I think a salary cap is needed but it is too low right now. Also, I don't think DPs should have any hit on the cap and there should be one extra spot for a "Super DP" which is a marquis player that demands a big transfer fee(a la China).

Just think how much more competitive the league would be if there was 4 DPs and then a 7-8 million dollar cap. The only reason slow and steady growth has to happen is because the US soccer federation and MLS need to work together as it's in their best interest to grow American talent first.

I think people are overrating the limitations of the salary cap. It's as soft a cap as can be. MLS retains flexibility to let teams go over it whenever MLS wants to. And I'm not even talking about allocation money and DPs. Teams can literally request the league to lower the budget charge on any player so they fit under the cap at any time, and the league can say yes for any reason. It's clearly laid out in the CBA.

It's a fake number designed to help with contract negotiations. Teams can tell players that they can't get raises because of the cap, but the cap doesn't actually exist.

The Players Union knows this. They barely mentioned the cap in the CBA negotiations. They went straight to free agency demands, because it's real leverage they need to get higher salaries, not the removal of some fake limitation on spending.

Fact is, the players don't have leverage right now, because American players aren't good enough. Tommy McNamara doesn't have foreign teams bidding for his services. And other MLS teams are forbidden from doing so too. Again, that's why getting free agency was so important for the Players Union, to create a market for the players.

The only thing "holding the league back" is this pesky little goal of developing American talent, which is crucial for the long term health of the league. Limited DP slots and international spots create incentive to develop American players. As American players get better, they will be paid more, simple as that. We just have to be patient and continue to promote and invest in academies.