On Wednesday, the Major League Soccer Players Association released their semi-annual report on player salaries. Being the statistician that I like to be. I’ve been kicking some numbers around and these are the takeaways from this release.
- Total player salaries went up 15.0% league-wide.
- Six teams cut salary compared to last season.
- Toronto FC still has the highest payroll in the league.
- Seattle Sounders FC has the highest median salary in 2019 so far at $347,916.50 even though they rank 7th in total payroll.
- The Chicago Fire are third in total payroll, but 23rd in terms of median salary behind New York Red Bulls.
- DC United’s wage bill increased the largest at 55.9% thanks in large part to Wayne Rooney.
- Vancouver is the only team with no millionaires in terms of guaranteed compensation.
- FC Cincinnati has the most players making under 100,000.
- The Houston Dynamo are spared the notion that one single player makes more than their entire payroll, but Zlatan comes closest at $7.2 million
Below is a quick table with the 2018 and 2019 guaranteed compensation by team as well as 2018 median salaries, number of millionaires, number of players making under $100,000, and the one-year percent change in terms of team payroll on each team:
| Club | 2018 Payroll | 2019 Payroll | 2019 Median | 2019 Millionaires | 2019 Under 100K | 1-Year Difference Payroll |
| Toronto FC | $26,167,498.70 | $22,193,619.00 | $138,500.00 | 3 | 9 | -15.2% |
| LA Galaxy | $17,502,008.30 | $18,514,139.00 | $187,500.00 | 4 | 10 | 5.8% |
| Chicago Fire | $13,824,204.42 | $16,907,430.00 | $135,000.00 | 4 | 12 | 22.3% |
| LAFC | $13,432,052.70 | $14,439,693.00 | $165,000.00 | 3 | 10 | 7.5% |
| Sporting Kansas City | $9,176,166.46 | $13,013,585.00 | $311,866.00 | 4 | 8 | 41.8% |
| Atlanta United | $11,306,330.49 | $12,670,769.00 | $183,625.00 | 2 | 11 | 12.1% |
| Seattle Sounders FC | $11,376,125.37 | $12,621,163.00 | $347,916.50 | 3 | 11 | 10.9% |
| Montreal Impact | $11,888,540.59 | $12,139,404.00 | $144,892.00 | 3 | 12 | 2.1% |
| Portland Timbers | $12,516,334.70 | $11,786,333.00 | $178,627.00 | 3 | 7 | -5.8% |
| Major League Soccer L.L.C | $3,139,367.63 | $11,467,365.00 | $381,620.00 | 3 | 2 | 265.3% |
| Orlando City SC | $8,981,657.52 | $11,359,974.00 | $150,000.00 | 3 | 9 | 26.5% |
| Real Salt Lake | $8,975,665.56 | $10,832,522.00 | $187,416.50 | 3 | 10 | 20.7% |
| DC United | $6,744,419.63 | $10,517,569.00 | $167,500.00 | 1 | 8 | 55.9% |
| Columbus Crew | $6,971,083.47 | $10,400,782.00 | $200,000.00 | 3 | 5 | 49.2% |
| FC Cincinnati | N/A | $10,312,162.00 | $201,250.00 | 2 | 13 | N/A |
| New York City FC | $14,147,632.75 | $10,051,253.00 | $237,403.00 | 1 | 9 | -29.0% |
| Minnesota United | $8,152,682.50 | $9,180,564.00 | $245,939.50 | 1 | 7 | 12.6% |
| San Jose Earthquakes | $7,787,252.58 | $9,161,431.00 | $218,438.00 | 1 | 8 | 17.6% |
| Philadelphia Union | $8,915,987.84 | $8,959,605.00 | $174,333.50 | 2 | 9 | 0.5% |
| Colorado Rapids | $11,001,331.46 | $8,937,176.00 | $138,707.00 | 1 | 12 | -18.8% |
| New England Revolution | $6,818,556.10 | $8,930,469.00 | $179,104.50 | 1 | 8 | 31.0% |
| FC Dallas | $9,333,819.28 | $8,730,844.00 | $179,000.00 | 1 | 7 | -6.5% |
| New York Red Bulls | $7,689,313.94 | $8,301,854.00 | $127,750.00 | 1 | 12 | 8.0% |
| Vancouver Whitecaps | $8,233,011.71 | $8,000,713.00 | $180,000.00 | 0 | 9 | -2.8% |
| Houston Dynamo | $5,673,471.63 | $7,665,634.00 | $177,916.50 | 2 | 7 | 35.1% |
| Nashville SC | N/A | $172,296.00 | $86,148.00 | 0 | 2 | N/A |
| League Totals | $249,754,515.33 | $287,268,348.00 | $175,300.00 | 55 | 227 | 15.0% |
As a bonus, I’m linking a Tableau dashboard that you can interact with to see your team’s salaries as well as compare and contrast with other teams in the league.
