Designated Players are being signed, rumors are flying, and some of the sports biggest names appear to be heading to Major League Soccer.
Yes, the times are changing.
Thanks to new MLS rules that allow teams to sign as many as three Designated Players, teams all over the league are signing or preparing to sign big-name players who may not have been otherwise signed if not for the rule change.
Thierry Henry, Ronaldinho,Rafael Marquez and Nery Castillo are names most MLS fans wouldn't have pictured all converging on MLS so suddenly, but it's clear that teams aren't being shy about spending money on big names.
Could MLS be heading for a spending war as the league's big market teams flex their muscle while smaller market teams try to find ways to keep up?
Here is my take on this new development for Fox Soccer. There is no denying that the league's landscape is starting to change dramatically thanks to the new rules, and it will be up to teams across the league to decide how best to handle the changes.
What do you think of the influx of Designated Players? Happy to see it? Worried the league is overspending or loosening the purse strings too quickly?
Share your thoughts below.
Yeah, looked into it more; was also writing my numbers in the wrong order above. It used to be 2/3 to the team, 1/3 to the league. The CBA moved that to 3/4 to the team, 1/4 to the league. An excellent development.
The rising scale based on service is for Gen Adidas players. At 1 year it was 1/3 for club, 2/3 for league. At 2 years, 50/50. At 3 or more, was 2/3 for the club, 1/3 for the league.
For all other players, it is 2/3 league, 1/3 club!
Also they increased the amount of transfer fees that can be put against allocation money (500k to 650k). That’s actually a pretty nice deal.
Thanks, I’ll look into that; I’m not sure how current my info was on that topic. Especially now that you say it, it seems to be ringing bells!
Hopefully they’ve made some steps in that direction.
LOL! Nick Garcia! I still can’t believe you guys traded for him.
agreed! SuperLiga refs are even worse.
I am glad everyone is sooooo excited about getting all these NAMES that are past their prime. Will they tear it up in the MLS, yes, because it is below the standard they are no longer good enough for. As a Dynamo fan I know we will never get a substantial DP while AEG owns us and the Galaxy as we know we are the red headed step-child. All these NAMES coming past their prime is like the old new york cosmo days and it sucks the MLS has not learned from the NASL mistake. I like the guy that went to the Fire, 26 yrs old and trying to revive his career, excellent investment. Open your eyes, big names no one else wants does not validate our league, it makes it a retirement home.
Small market teams can do quite well in the NBA. Portland, Seattle, Phoenix, San Antonio, Detroit, OKC, Dallas, Sacramento, Utah, Orlando, Cleveland, Indiana, and Detroit have all been among the league’s elite for long stretches over that past two decades.
Small market NBA teams that struggle do so because of incompetence, not lack of funds.
Talk of past DPs is like discussing the joys of great station-to-station baseball players before Babe Ruth arrived. As soon as Henry starts pouring in the goals, everyone will want one like him and realize that the game has changed too much to look at the past as a predictor of the future. In other words, the quality of the DP pool will grow (and has grown) consistent with the addition of soccer specific staida, more slots, more spending power, and an ever-improving image of the league outside the US. If MLS can attract world class players in their early 30s or younger (and Ronaldinho is only 30 and coming off a very solid year with Milan), the league and play on the field will only improve, with the result that teams able to attract the really good DPs will do better.
Talk of past DPs is like discussing the joys of great station-to-station baseball players before Babe Ruth arrived. As soon as Henry starts pouring in the goals, everyone will want one like him and realize that the game has changed too much to look at the past as a predictor of the future. In other words, the quality of the DP pool will grow (and has grown) consistent with the addition of soccer specific staida, more slots, more spending power, and an ever-improving image of the league outside the US. If MLS can attract world class players in their early 30s or younger (and Ronaldinho is only 30 and coming off a very solid year with Milan), the league and play on the field will only improve, with the result that teams able to attract the really good DPs will do better.
its OBVIOUSLY ronaldinho – anytime you can attract hot brazilian women to a venue, it’s a deal breaker! didn’t you see the nike commercial during the world cup?! very tan, very toned, very supple brazilian chicks dancing in the stands in bikinis… hello?!
lol.. agree!
Ronny is two years younger than Henry, coming off a very solid season with AC Milan, and undoubtedly would have made Brazil’s World Cup team with another manager. He’s also a human highlight reel, as Nike well knows. Henry is probably a better ambassador for MLS, but Ronny would be the bigger DP signing overall, particularly as Milan (publicly at least) still claims to want him and, at times, he still plays like the best player on the planet. Very good trend if MLS can get this quality of player in their early 30s.
+1 for the article-length comment. Totally worth reading.
No hatred for Berhalter or McBride. Great mentors for young players…same as having 2 DP’s available per team. Just think that having some of the younger USNT players would improve the MLS product and give a greater interest, and maybe capture more Fans post WC.
How about MLS throwing out some DP money for some DP Ref’s?
Ives,
Have you heard anything on where Deco is heading during this transfer window? I feel like he would be great for the revs but i feel like they’re not trying to get him.
Why the hatred for Gregg Berhalter and Brian McBride?
I agree with you, BTW.
I think Torres would be a hit for some MLS fanbase with a large percentage Mexican-Americans. I think having Edu, Feilhaber, Holden types as “faces” of franchises would be great for MLS.
To me, it’s Henry, but mainly because I don’t think he’s declined as much. Ronaldinho is probably the name the would make a bigger splash for the casual soccer fan.
While I don’t mind the DP signings, what i would like is an academy system on steriods that would rival those from professional clubs in europe.
If we want to produce more of our own talent this is the next step.
in the new CBA I thought the splilt was closer to that- where if a player played 1, 2 or 3 years the compensation kept going up.
the NFL is different though. alone among leagues I am familiar with it combines serious revenue sharing with a hard salary cap that is below the shared revenue. pretty much everyone maxes out the cap, every year (give or take a few million) because the shared TV money basically pays for it. Tickets are just gravy. this is why the arms race in the NFL these days is for coaches. that’s really the only way an owner can distinguish himself from all the other owners.
this works in the NFL for a couple of reasons it doesn’t work elsewhere: first, the NFLPA is a broken union. people root for the team, not for the player (As was ably demonstrated during the ‘replacement player’ lockout in ’87, people still went to games and watched on TV) second: the relative scarcity of places to play professional football, where else are you going to go?. third: the scarcity of games means that fans are heavily invested in purchasing and keeping season tickets. fourth: most players in professional football are simply marginal improvements on others. with a few exceptions, is a guy who gets ten sacks a year worth more than a guy who gets six? since you’ve already basically maxed out revenue in major markets (and even more in a lot of smaller markets, go try and get a ticket to a Steelers game) why would anyone spend the money? the scheme is what matters almost more than the players.
no other sport is like this. although early 00s MLS was pretty close. but even in soccer we want to see stars, not just a jersey. people will buy tickets to see a comparatively mediocre (on a global level) team like NYRB to see Henry play. people will buy tickets to see Beckham. to see Ronaldinho. would you buy a ticket to an Arena League game because Brett Favre was playing?
with a hard cap of around 2.3 million and a draft, MLS teams were basically on level footing. finding one or two stars and a quality supporting cast, with a good system made you a powerhouse (see: New England, DC, Houston) especially since those salaries were covered by the league (just like NFL salaries are, in essence, covered by the league’s TV revenues) now that there is a soft cap, and a team that has money and wants to spend it can multiply that cap several times (figure Henry is getting what, 2,5 million a year? Angel is at least a million and Marquez as well, you’re looking at NYRB spending, in essence, three times the cap. the Galaxy, if they sign Ronnie, will be looking at seven or eight times the cap)
plus, more than just money, other things now come into play in attracting players. to enter the NFL almost every player is an amateur and enters through the draft. if you get Detroit, then you go to Detroit, unless you don’t want to play. you go to Green Bay or wherever. you think your average 22 year old athlete who’d about to be a multi-millionaire would rather be in Green Bay, Cleveland or Miami? if your company transferred you from the New York office to the Green Bay office, would you be thrilled? so now teams like Kansas City and Salt Lake have to compete for international talent with New York and LA. New York and LA will almost always win that game, especially if they also have more money to spend.
one of the great things about MLS is that building a team has been one of the great challenges. who can do more with exactly the same potential resources? that game is over now. the arms race has begun. and as history teaches us, arms races almost never end well. look at the European leagues. the only new team on the scene from the past decade of dominance has been ManCity. and that’s because they’ve got literally unlimited pockets. otherwise, the odds are on Man Utd, Liverpool, Chelsea, Arsenal, Tottenham. you can’t even get odds on anyone else without requesting them, no one even bothers. but you can get odds on the Lions winning the Superbowl (roughly 150-1)
That’s what she said…
It’s also about putting butts in seats.
Say what you will about Blanco. He put butts in seats wherever he went. Chicago were a better team with him.
Donkey Punch
The signing of DPs and expanding that program was inevitable. Hardcore soccer fans are few and far between in this country. To get the casual fan or a bandwagoner, you need to have a star because that is all those types of fans know.
I know. Good job… LOL
agreed. this is coming from an rbny fan btw
Hey kind of slow today… 🙂
Bah, and the Lakers of course are also over the cap, but so were some small marekt teams.
What?
Love this.
Where they are located now a portuguese player would be nice.
As far as Irish, unless they are right off the boat or 1 generation away from Ireland I couldnt imagine more then half the Irish Americans to know who Robbie Keane is, and of that half I don’t know many that would care.
The Revs at this point are looking to satisfy the Soccermom community.
No NY/NJ fan can possibly think market size matters in the NBA or NFL. The teams that have blown past the soft salary cap in the NBA have never done well except for the Mavericks. The Spurs and Pistons have won nearly half the championships in the past decade out of ‘small’ markets. Boston, LA, and Miami have won because they are attractive locations for a core group of players, not because they have more money. And of course in the NFL market size doesn’t matter at all.
Baseball is the only culprit of the big 3.
Maybe Beckham will buy the Revs when he is done playing and then he will try to sign all his friends for your team 🙂
Gotcha! LOL!
wooosh
The slippery slope down the same path as the NASL is now in full gallop. Wasting money on these washed up foreigners makes no sense. Meanwhile, USA players like Clarence Goodson have to go to freakin’ Norway to make a living.
I rather see a significant increase in salary cap, and get rid of the DPs.
Designated Player.
As a Philadelphia Union fan, I would love to see my team sign at lesat one DP, because I think it’s a great idea. But I also love the ownership and management of my team. I think they have a great business and marketing model and a terrific coach.
Personally would have preferred if MLS kept DP signings at 2 per team, and given an salary cap exemption to teams having Senior National Team Players on their roster. Keeping MLS competitive with the Norwegian/Belgium/Scandinavian/Mexican leagues and therefor having the possibility to Keep some of the Young US playing here in the US.
We’ve seen how the country embraced the WC squad, now imagine that each team had 1 to 2 USNT players or potential players where fans could see them week in week out. Would have preferred this to having aging players come in to Milk another 3-4 years of checks.
Just my 2 Cents.
Having the DP’s should increase revenue so the teams can afford to raise the minimum salary to a point that everyone in a squad is truely a professional. The home grown talent will come when US players can afford to do nothing else than play and train at the top level. We are not there yet.
I love DP.
Excellent post.
A small market team has won the Superbowl in 2 of the last 3 seasons. Very true for the NBA, though.
A bit harsh. Some of his gripes are certainly reasonable.
What’s a DP?
And just as bad were the 19 he scored in 07-08.
All sarcasm aside, that first season wasn’t the greatest for Barca, but it can’t all boil down to Mr. Henry.
Didn’t Henry score 25+ while winning the treble in 08-09? Truly pathetic.
Did you miss the “Soccer Cabinet” that was just formed this week?
further note: SBI doesn’t need jackarse commenters like you.