Major League Soccer and the Major League Soccer Players Association has agreed in principle to a new five-year collective bargaining agreement on Thursday, which will run through Jan. 31, 2025.
The CBA addressed many of the MLSPA’s biggest concerns, including changes to free agency, a raise to the league minimum salary, and expansions on chartered flights.
The agreement is subject to formal approval by the MLS Board of Governors and the MLSPA membership before it is finalized.
“This agreement addresses key strategic priorities for the league and our players while also retaining the basic player compensation structure that has been the foundation for the growth and stability of Major League Soccer,” MLS Commissioner Don Garber said in a league statement. “We had constructive, positive discussions with the leadership of the MLSPA and the players’ bargaining committee during the negotiations over the last few months and I would like to thank them for their collaboration in concluding an agreement that will serve as the foundation for a new era of partnership with our players.”
Many of the big-name players last season complained about the lack of chartered flights. In the 2020 season, clubs are required to use eight legs of chartered travel. This compared to the last agreement, which clubs had an optional max of three chartered flights. This forced use of chartered travel is a big step for vocal players such as Alejandro Bedoya, who’s Philadelphia Union used zero of it’s allotted chartered flights last season.
By the 2024 season, clubs will be required to use 16 legs of chartered flight. This amasses to about eight games of chartered travel. In an MLS season, teams play 17 home and 17 road matches. Clubs will have to use chartered flights for eight of the 17 road matches, though a club could choose to just use the chartered flight for the outbound trip in 16 roach matches, and fly commercial back each time.
The other notable aspect of this part of the deal is the wording. Whereas previously clubs could not exceed three chartered flights – an attempt to create parity between supportive owners and penny-pinching owners – the wording here indicates that clubs can charter as many flights as possible. For owners like Arthur Blank and Robert Kraft, who already own a chartered airplane for their NFL team, this means using the Falcons and Patriots jets at will.
Under the new agreement MLS will increase investment in the salary budget, General Allocation Money and performance bonuses for players.
Spending power for clubs will raise every year, from $8.5 million last season to $11.6 in 2024, about $600,000 each season. Meanwhile, the minimum salary for senior roster players increased from $70,250 in 2019, and will reach $109,200 in 2024. There is also increases to other benefits such as 401(k) contribution, though these increases were not specified.
MLS provided clubs with $1.2 million in Targeted Allocation Money in each of the last three seasons. In the new agreement, MLS now provides that money in the form of GAM instead. That TAM could only be used in specific roster acquisitions, and now clubs are free to invest the GAM freely across their rosters.
Essentially, MLSPA wanted to move away from TAM. Teams are limited to spending in the form of two categories, one of which is TAM and money for designated players. This new part of the agreement seems to show that the league is willing to allow teams to invest in more individualized and unique ways, as opposed to big spending on overseas talent. TAM as well as Discretionary TAM will be phased out over the course of the agreement.
The CBA expanded free agency as well, dropping the age of players eligible for free agency to 24, given they have played at least five years in MLS.
In the previous agreement, players were eligible for free agency after their 28th birthday, as long as they had eight years of MLS service on their resume.
Players in free agency can also earn more than in years prior. It’s complicated, and all based on how much the player made in the previous season.
MLSsoccer.com lays it out as follows;
- For players making the maximum salary budget charge or less, a free agent can sign a contract with another club with an initial salary of the greater of $25,000 above the maximum salary budget charge, or 15% above the player’s prior salary.
- For players making between the maximum salary budget charge and the maximum TAM amount, the player could earn 15% above the prior salary up to $500,000 above the maximum salary budget charge and 12.5% of such salary from $500,000 above the maximum salary up to the maximum TAM amount.
- Designated Players, whose total compensation in the year before free agency was equal to or less than the maximum TAM amount will be eligible for free agency, subject to the compensation limits for players making between the maximum salary budget charge and the maximum TAM amount set forth above.
- Designated Players whose total compensation in the year before free agency was greater than the maximum TAM amount will be eligible for free agency either as a non-Designated Player with his new team, or as a Designated Player with his new team subject to the criteria set out below
The DP rule is changing for the 3rd DP spot. Those players are limited to earning the maximum in TAM unless that player is 23 years old or younger.
This could be showing that MLS is willing to move away from DPs, but also wants to reward teams like LAFC, who has shown a willingness to pay teenagers such as Diego Rossi a DP salary.
Along that youth movement, clubs are allowed to sign up to three players under the age of 23 on a reduced charge to the clubs salary budget.
This ties in with the current rule that homegrown players don’t count to the salary budget. It is showing that MLS encourages signing not just the big young stars, but also ones who don’t have as big a draw, but could show a big upside.
The big takeaway from the new CBA is that both players and owner agree that MLS is growing, and needs to support that growth with financial and quality of life improvement.
Here are some potential results from the agreement:
- Road teams see an increased winning percentage due to increased charter flights
- MLS veterans move clubs more often in search of earning more money through new free agency rules
- Average team age gets younger as clubs are incentivized toward signing U23 players
- Spending decreases on foreign players due to changes to TAM
- But spending increases on domestic players and squad players due to changes to GAM
- Along with this, salaries are likely to equalize as the lower earners make more and wage parity increases
