Photo by Gary A. Vasquez/USA TODAY Sports
By SBI SOCCER
It may not come as much of a surprise, but Giovani Dos Santos and Didier Drogba find themselves among Major League Soccer’s best paid players.
The MLS Players Union released an update of the league’s salary information after previously revealing information in July. Now included are stars like Drogba and Dos Santos, who have made the move to the league since the original release.
Drogba, who signed for the Montreal Impact in late July, is guaranteed $2,166,668 in 2015, while the LA Galaxy’s Dos Santos leaps into the league’s highest earners with his $5,750,008 in guaranteed conversation. Dos Santos’ payout is good for sixth-highest in the league, behind only Kaka, Sebastian Giovinco, Michael Bradley, Steven Gerrard and Frank Lampard.
As things stand, MLS now has 23 players making upwards of $1 million, with Real Salt Lake Designated Player Juan Manuel ‘Burrito’ Martinez joining Drogba and Dos Santos as additions with his guaranteed $1,108,666.67.
The Seattle Sounders duo of Roman Torres and Andreas Ivanschitz will receive a payout of $513,812.50 and $201,250, respectively. Â The Philadelphia Union’s Tranquillo Barnetta becomes the team’s second highest-paid player at $661,500, trailing only Maurice Edu.
In addition, New York Red Bulls winger Gonzalo Veron is set to make $200,004, while Shaun Wright-Phillips is guaranteed $145,704.
What do you think of the latest MLS salary figures? Which stand out to you?
Share your thoughts below.
Kurt….that’s the same thing people said when rumors swirled about Beckham coming to MLS ….that there was no way such a thing could happen. He was the world’s most recognizable footballer, an enormous celebrity, and making millions of dollars a year in salary n endorsements, but it happened.
I can see LAFC, Miami, or Galaxy offering Ronaldo something like $50 million over 5 years, plus cuts in merchandise n tickets to lure him. He would be a God over here and would make a fortune. I think it’s very possible.
That’s a joke if you think Ronaldo will be here in 2018.
He is one of the top 2 players in the world now and in less than 3 years will still be playing at a top level in Europe.
Don Garber along with all the other dreamers have an inflated view of the caliber of MLS pay.
So tell me about Liga MX?
Why doesnt MLS try for more partnerships and loans? At least for their youth talent
Death to Capitalism
Rise of socialism
Why begrudge people for making the $ they can? Why begrudge owners spending the $ they can? Never had understood this type of whining.
I don’t begrudge the players. If someone was willing to pay me $6million to work for them, I would do it, but I would tell my friends that I am robbing the person blind. If owners want to spend their money, go ahead, but I have a right to critique it if it’s not in the best interest of the league. Instead on spending $4million- plus on 10 players, in crease the quality of the league and 25 really high quality players.
I appreciate your thoughtful arguments in this thread Anthony but disagree on your comment about the best interests of the league; Americans need the stars over here, even later in their careers, to FINALLY get to see them play. It’s a big deal that
Agree about the depth issues and some of the other issues derived from smaller salaried players and salary caps but have seen the league and the game change and evolve a ton here in MLS and player development, and trending in the right direction.
I guess we have to agree to disagree.
not for me
where’d you grow up playing? did you get to see the stars from TV live and up close? I never did growing up, living here in America. Only when I moved to Italy did that finally occur, bith the chance to watch them on TV AND the chance to see them play live. Changed my life
Now there’s more TV coverage than ever here, and many of the players my kids saw on TV growing up they can now actually go see play…and they love it!! I think you underestimate the effect that can have on a developing nation’s culture, passion and belief
and clearly soccer is trending up in America…nothing to disagree or agree about there…FACT
I split my time. I am actually a dual US citizen. However, until 9/10 I lived in Europe (France/Belgium) before moving to the NY area.
I get your explanation, I suppose I don’t have to seem them live. I follow the Ligue 1, La Liga and Bundesliga, but my parents never wanted to see games in person. I didn’t see games in person until I was an adult (in US, Brazil, Europe (EPL, Bundesliga)).
Can I have Marco Pappa at $75k? That’s a steal. Sounders cheating the system and still can’t win a cup.
I think life in the USA appeals to many top European talent.
Im pretty sure Ronaldo will play in MLS before he retires. Expect him here summer 2018
Even at 33 he will be worth a 5 year contract
I wanna see Zlatan in the league next summer. Give him 10 million a year. He will be worth it.
The key is getting these guys to play for Philadelphia or Salt Lake or DC instead of just LA and NYC and Seattle
Ha!
Ronaldo will play for the new LA team, Ibra will sign with Miami.
I think that you underestimate how much some of these guys make. Sure you can get Giovinco who is an excellent MLS player, but a somewhat fringe Italian national team player. Ibra makes like Eur 15 million (or about $17 million with the bad conversion rate). He may not get $17 million/yr, but he will certainly get $10 million plus in Europe for 2 seasons. I can see him coming in 2/3 years, but he would want more than anyone else.
That being said, the key thing is getting those Giovinco/Keane level players and star players like Villa in their late 27-32 age range where they have years left (as long as they are committed to MLS – like Kaka).
Is Dio really that popular among Latinos?
Sure, a lot of latinos love heavy metal.
Well played, sir.
How much does the average player in Mexico make? Im sure the top earners in Mexico earn 2.5 million. Most be loads earning like 500-600K.
MLS needs to get some of those. Im surprised MX league doesnt get lots of our cheap players and double their pay and get them playing for them
That’s because a lot of the cheap players cannot make Liga MX squads. Liga MX squads have much better starting 11’s on average and deeper squads. The best players in Liga MX make 3.5/4 million. There are only 10 plays in MLS who make more than that. What a lot people fail or refuse to see is that there is a big drop-off between the 1st 11 on MLS sqauds and the rest of the squad, and they average starting 11 have better technical ability than MLS starting 11s on average.
Dos Santos spent August looking like he was worth every penny. Now he’s spent all of September looking like the Barca/Spurs/Galatasary/Villareal reject so many pundits warned us about.
Seriously MLS needs to get the likes of Ibra, Lewandowski, Messi, Ronaldo. Offer them 10-20 million a year and the chance to be on the first wave as MLS becomes greater than the PL
Those guys already make $20m a year so why would they come here even for that much?
You’re kidding, right? MLS will never be a great league until the average player makes as much as the average player in the big leagues. It’s that simple.
How in the world does Michael Bradley make 5 million a year? He’s not worth half that. Dude should be in Europe. Return to Roma. Hes not doing himself any favors being in MLS. I thought he had ambition to play in the CL.
But sure get that $$$ *snark*
I could understand Dempsey or Donovan earning that but not Bradley
Playing soccer is MB’s job so criticizing him for playing for the team willing to pay him the most is pretty hilarious. No doubt you’d turn down someone offering you double or triple your current employer to do the same job right?
That’s one of the best arguments I’ve heard in a while. Well done.
well said slow, and duh
The reason drogba is so low is because he joined the league late, its pro rated, same with dos santos
The salary cap is now 3 million? How much was it when MLS started 20 years ago?
Why does Drogba make so low? He could earn double that just riding the bench at Chelsea
So how would that work, exactly? He just calls up Chelsea and says “hey, Chelsea, give me $5million to just sit on your bench!” Because you know what? I’d like that deal myself. I can sit on the Chelsea bench and never play for $5 mil every bit as good as Didier, you, or anyone else.
I wonder how Keane feels about Gerrard n Dos Santos both making more than him. Perhaps they draw more fans n sell more jerseys, but his performance since his arrival really jas been stellar.
$100 k per year as minimum salarm does sound very respectable, but dunno if the current economics within MLS can support that.
Keane worships Gerrard. He really does. If you watch all Galaxy games, you can see that Keane is a totally different player around him. No screaming at him like he does with his other teammates, no demanding the ball, etc etc. I think Keane’s attitude toward the acquisition of Gerrard was “Yes, please! And pay him ANYTHING. He’s God.”
As for Dos Santos, those two guys played together at Spurs, so they kinda know each other. Keane claims he likes the guy but it’s hard to imagine the two of them hanging out much, considering Dos Santos barely speaks English and is half Keane’s age.
As far as Dos Santos outrageous salary, Keane is probably taking a “wait and see” approach. The Dos Santos of August? Sure, pay the guy, it’ll get me another MVP and another MLS Cup. The Dos Santos of September so far? Keane’s probably getting a little peeved at the kid’s crap play.
I watch all the Galaxy games too, for many many years.
Gio not the problem imo. Rogers is inconsistent, at best, and I’m being kind. He gets attacked by all teams now and his ability to go forward and serve dangerous balls into the area has been a myth; he’s a turnover machine.
The Galaxy have a big hole in front of their backline and Juninho can’t solve that by himself even though he tries. He’s been excellent but other midfielders have struggled, including Zardes and LLetget who look like they’ve hit a wall, and Gerrard who looks old too often.
And Leonardo, who has been better than he’s ever been in the uniform to me, still is Leonardo.
Add the loss of Penedo and the incumbent issues a GK change mid season can bring, and boom, the Galaxy are struggling. And Ricketts is fine but it’s still unsettling. Plus they have sucked on the road for some time now.
If they don’t outscore their opponent with many goals they will probably lose defensive battles which is a change from Galaxy teams in the past during this run of excellence they’ve enjoyed
Chemistry is a touchy thing, can change in the blink of an eye. They just don’t look happy out there together these past few games. Hope it changes back quickly
Shaun makes 145 K? He could easily be making double that at any club in the Championship. And hes of that quality
There’s no shortage of Championship-level GKs out there.
Mininum pay in MLS should be 100 K. If you ask me. Kids need to see that they can survive in MLS or that they can reach a well paying salary. Even rookies or crappy players in the NBA can make a million dollars a year. Some great players in MLS lucky to be on 100 K a year.
in england the average player makes like 2-2.5million dollars US. I believe in France its one millionm
we should look to improve the median and mean salary.
I personally don’t see an issue with giving a pro tryout to an unproven player at 50k – MLS teams would be more hesitant to sign youth players if there was a higher min.
what you want to see is that a young player can sign at 50k and quickly earn his way to a better contract (comparable to other leagues both in soccer and other US sports) based on his abilities with out the help of his national team or other leagues.
Ummm… supply and demand. It’s a free market. NBA makes more than MLS. NBA can pay their players more. Increase broadcasting contracts and more butts in seats at MLS games = larger salaries for players.
???
Just drop 20millions a year on both Ronaldo and Messi and our league will be top 5 by 2020
Both Ronaldo and Messi make over $50 million per year, pre-tax.
I hope that is a joke. If not, it’s INCREDIBLY naive and stupid. You need at least 150 new, quality players. In addition, do you realize how much the ratings would have to jump to even come close to revenue of France?
The disproportional payout in terms of salary in the MLS is disgusting. Do all these really provide value in terms of increased ratings or marketability? Some do, but the others?
Some of these players should also charged with robbery (looking at you Bradley – first and foremost) or the owners should be charged with stupidity or dereliction of duty.
Yes they do
No they don’t — a couple do, but most do not. Do you look at the viewership numbers?
Do you look at the butt in seat numbers? Attendance up pretty much across the league.
Viewership numbers are much more important. They lead to greater advertising dollars (exponentially so). They attendancestors is lead to better environment.
23 players make over a million and none are on my team (according to the Players Union Cubo Torres only makes $425,000)
If I’m not mistaken Torres hasn’t scored a goal for Houston yet. Drogba has been on a tear, though, Montreal seems to have gotten him for quite a bargain!
Link?
it only takes a two word google search
link: http://www.mlsplayers.org/salary_info.html
Wow, GDS is a good player but $5M? I’d like to see a little less conversation and a little more action out of him tbh.
You have to account for far more than the ROI on the field. Big picture: one of the best branding moves the league and team has made behind Beckham.
They’ll get the money back in GDS shirt sales in about 10 minutes.
ROTFL on the Elvis lyrics, well played!