re: MLS CBA expires after this season

Here’s a few things I think will happen.

1) League minimum salary will be increased to about $100K. Currently, the league minimum is about $60K, and that’s not a professional wage if a player lives in an expensive market like NYC, San Jose, Vancouver, etc. The players’ union really wants this, and I think they’ll get it. This would be a big step for the league, and you won’t see players like Cameron Porter and Brandon Vincent retire to get private sector jobs anymore once the minimum salary leaguewide is legit.

2) Concessions on free agency. The players’ union made compromises in the last negotiation on free agency to get a deal done, but they’ve been pretty vocal about not caving this time. The players want real free agency, and that is one of my criticisms of MLS. The league needs to soften its grip on contracts a little bit and give more freedom to teams to sign players to whatever terms they want.

3) Homegrown Territories will be scrapped. Some other poster mentioned getting rid of the Homegrown player rules, but I think this is what he meant. It’s an outdated system, and the big MLS academies like Dallas recruit kids from all over the country now. MLS GMs are pretty much universally in agreement that needs to change, and I’m sure it will. Which would be good, as the shitty academies like Chicago don’t get to waste talented kids that happen to grow up in their territories, and other MLS teams can develop them.

4) International Spots - MLS teams are currently allowed a certain number of international spots (I believe its 8), meaning foreign players who don’t have a green card/visa. That number might increase a bit if rosters expand. The players’ union will want less to protect domestic players; the owners and GMs will want more. One thing I’m sure will change is Canadian players won’t count as foreign players anymore. That puts the three Canadian teams at a huge disadvantage.

5) Salary Cap Increase- I think the much bigger bump will come after the media deal is renegotiated in 2022, but we’re likely to see a substantial increase here. Could be 50%, maybe even more. We’re thankfully getting to a point in this league where the ambitious owners are starting to outnumber the cheap ones. They want the salary cap raised to give their teams the best chance to win. While I don’t want MLS to ever reach a point where the small teams like RSL and Kansas City can no longer win titles, it’ll be good to let the more ambitious owners spend more money. There will likely be a large influx of allocation money, too.

6) Designated Players- I’m not sure the number of DPs each team is allowed (currently 3) will change, but I think it’s likely the threshold that determines a DP will be raised. Currently it’s around $1.5 million. Keep in mind that the league pays all non-DP salaries, while the teams pay the DP salaries themselves. Bumping up the number will give teams more roster flexibility. Currently the LA Galaxy have 4 players on DP salaries because Gio dos Santos refuses to take a buyout, so the MLS GMs are meeting this week to create a solution.

7) Charter Flights- MLS players travel to the majority of their games not on charter flights, but on commercial flights in coach with regular people. The league has outgrown this cost-saving measure, and many teams are pushing for unlimited charter flights. I think the league will consent, as long as the owners foot the bill.

Another poster mentioned training compensation as a possible change, but realize that’s a USSF and child labor laws issue. MLS can’t just mandate that. Don Garber actually wants to see it happen, but it’ll take a lot of things happening outside of anything the league can control.

I certainly don’t think we need to worry about a lockout or anything like that. The owners know the players don’t have the same leverage players in other sports do, and that will keep their demands reasonable. In contrast, it looks like the NFL is headed towards a lockout, and possibly even the MLB.

Yes, that’s what I meant. I got it mixed up.

I know a lot of GMs are unhappy about that.