The new collective bargaining agreement between Major League Soccer and the Major League Soccer Players Association announced on Thursday included incremental increases to player compensation starting from this year through to 2024.
The changes will boost investment in player spending year-on-year and provide greater flexibility to clubs in how they spend those increased resources. MLS will increase the spending on salary budget, GAM and performance bonuses for players from $8,490,000 in 2019 to $11,643,000 in 2024.
Player compensation is divided into two categories: guaranteed spend, which includes salary budget and General Allocation Money (GAM), and discretionary spend, which includes Designated Players, Targeted Allocation Money (TAM) and investment in the new under-22 player initiative.
From 2020, the $1.2 million previously allocated for TAM will be converted to GAM. In addition, the amount of TAM will decrease year-on-year in accordance with the increase in the amount of guaranteed spending.
Year |
Salary
Budget |
General
Allocation Money |
Discr.
TAM |
Avail. Spend
on Roster*Avail.
Spend
on
Roster* |
|---|---|---|---|---|
2020 |
$4,900,000 |
$1,525,000 |
$2,800,000 |
$9,225,000 |
2021 |
$5,210,000 |
$1,900,000 |
$2,720,000 |
$9,830,000 |
2022 |
$5,470,000 |
$2,585,000 |
$2,400,000 |
$10,455,000 |
2023 |
$5,950,000 |
$2,830,000 |
$2,225,000 |
$11,005,000 |
2024 |
$6,425,000 |
$3,093,000 |
$2,125,000 |
$11,643,000 |
