Millions may be pouring into Major League Soccer’s coffers through expansion clubs, but the players aren’t likely to receive raises anytime soon. That may seem unfair, but MLS Commissioner Don Garber reminds us that, “The league is doing better, but don’t forget that there has been massive amounts of money invested in this league to get to this point,” Garber tells Luis Bueno of the Press Enterprise. “One good year does not a future make. We’ve got to ensure that we’ve got a good year this year and ensure that some of the teams we have that have struggled at the gate are able to pick it up.”
Even so, the pay discrepancy between those at the top and those at the bottom is staggering. Five players, including David Beckham and Cuauhtemoc Blanco, earn seven-figure salaries, but the league minimum salary is a paltry $33,000. Then there are those beyond the bottom, the league’s 73 so-called developmental players, who earn between $12,900 and $17,700.
Garber concedes that MLS salaries must increase or the league will continue to lose its upper and mid-level players to second-tier European leagues. “It’s always a challenge for us to keep our American players,” he said. “The only way that’s going to happen is if we can raise our revenues and can afford to pay our players what they are getting overseas — not necessarily what they are worth but what the market is overseas.”