It pays to be a Designated Player in MLS, and, as it turns out, the league is seeing a return on its DP investments from a merchandising standpoint as well.
Seven of the top 10 selling MLS jerseys belong to Designated Players, with David Beckham and Thierry Henry leading the way, respectively, according to figures released on Tuesday. Los Angeles Galaxy captain Landon Donovan ranks behind them, followed by Seattle's Fredy Montero, D.C. United's Dwayne De Rosario and San Jose's Chris Wondolowski. De Rosario is not technically a DP even though his salary, which is paid down with allocation money, crosses the DP threshold, while Wondolowski's salary nears DP status as well but is not quite there.
Despite just joining the league not even two months ago, New York Red Bulls DP Tim Cahill has the seventh-highest selling jersey in MLS. He is followed by the Galaxy's Robbie Keane and Sounders captain Mauro Rosales. Houston Dynamo veteran Brian Ching rounds out the top 10.
As for some of the more surprising names among the top 25 best-selling jerseys — of which only nine belong to Americans — the Philadelphia Union's Roger Torres ranks 19th; Galaxy veteran Mike Magee has the 23rd best-selling uniform and the New England have found marketing success with Saer Sene, who ranks 24th.
Here are the Top 25-selling MLS jerseys:
TOP 25-SELLING MLS JERSEYS
- David Beckham, LAG
- Thierry Henry, RBNY
- Landon Donovan, LAG
- Fredy Montero, SEA
- Dwayne De Rosario, DCU
- Chris Wondolowski, SJ
- Tim Cahill, RBNY
- Robbie Keane, LAG
- Mauro Rosales, SEA
- Brian Ching, HOU
- Darlington Nagbe, POR
- Chris Pontius, DCU
- Osvaldo Alonso, SEA
- Young-Pyo Lee, VAN
- Kris Boyd, POR
- Barry Robson, VAN
- Eddie Gaven, CLB
- Brad Davis, HOU
- Roger Torres, PHI
- Freddy Adu, PHI
- Kei Kamara, SKC
- Kyle Beckerman, RSL
- Mike Magee, LAG
- Saer Sene, NE
- Arne Friedrich, CHI
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What do you think of this list? Surprised at some of the names that are so high up or ones that aren't even on the Top 25 list at all? Whose jersey did you think would sell better? Disappointed or surprised by the lack of American players on the list?
Share your thoughts below.