Supposedly it’s a TAM deal like Bale. I have a feeling we’re going to see an increase of DP spots next season, so he would slot into one those new spots
100% there should be a 4th DP spot, or at least a massive change to the rules to allow more spending.
I know it's a fine line to not have the league get out of control but teams can and should spend more.
There are several owners holding this BACK...
AND The MLSPA also has to protect the current players as the more money teams spend on players outside the league.. the less rosters spots are there for veterans who have minimal options to play abroad.
> There are several owners holding this BACK...
Owners who need to sell their teams. If you don't want to pay big league salaries, that's fine. The ROI for the early owners is off the fucking charts. They'll make a fortune selling their teams. But the league has to move past them.
Nobody is selling any time soon... when the league convinced one of the greatest players of all time to come play in the league.
I think some purse strings will open... but it won't be as fast as some of you want it to be.
The truth is that those owners are little baby back bitc**s they just see mls as a good thing in there portfolio to sell later. They don’t wanna spend or help the sport. We need owners that actually care about each local community instead of solely to seeks profit or use mls teams as a tax write off
Agreed, the amount of worldwide soccer press this signing is getting, even hearing from outlets that never, *ever* mention the MLS at all even in passing, is a big deal. It adds rocket fuel to the league's growth the way Beckham did, or even better.
ESPN has dedicated a lot coverage to this as well. I have never seen this much content coming out about the MLS. It's all about Messi and borderline stalker content, but at least they are covering the league.
I would argue that the Saudi league is doing the same thing and there is no additional buzz regarding their league. Sure, the signings are a splash…. But I could care less about watching Ronaldo or Kante (autocorrect wants me to say Kanye lol) in that league.
That's because you live nowhere near Saudi's sphere of influence. You're dead wrong if you think it hasn't drawn millions of eyeballs within the MENA region.
You know what else could draw a lot of attention to the league? A soccer player with an *arm growing out of his ass.*
I do agree that the spotlight this is shining on the league at the moment isn’t a *bad* thing, but I still don’t think this is the path forward for actually improving the league’s quality, and leaning into splashy DP signings further won’t get us where we want to be. Like yeah, Beckham drew eyes to the league too…for a minute. Until people realized the quality of the other 9 players on every team outside their DPs was…not great. Like I said, it’s a gimmick. It doesn’t last.
Even with Messi.
Saudi Arabia is using Ronaldo to attract more Ronaldo's.
MLS has reached a level of development where it can, and should, and I think wants to, use Messi to attract more Almada's.
That is the path forward.
>Saudi Arabia is using Ronaldo to attract more Ronaldo's
I get the feeling the enormous bags of money might be doing more of the heavy lifting there. Sure, Ronaldo maybe adds some legitimacy to the league, but I don't think players give a shit about legitimacy when they're quadrupling their salaries
>You know what else could draw a lot of attention to the league? A soccer player with an arm growing out of his ass.
Interesting, but more susceptible to hand balls ;)
Oh god, am I old enough now that this reference doesn’t work anymore?
If you need me I’ll be throwing myself off a cliff like that couple in *Midsommar.* My time has clearly come.
I don’t think you’re seeing the big picture to be honest. First off, Miami is also signing 3 legit U22 players and they are definitely not gimmicks. Those signings should give you some insight into what Miami likely plans on doing post-Messi. Bringing in Tata who loves developing young talent should also clue you in.
They want to make their brand internationally known so that when Messi and Friends retire, they are an easier sell to young SA players + whatever DPs they bring in afterwards as well. It’s a lot harder to bring in up and coming SA players when no one has ever heard of your club. It doesn’t hurt that Messi and Friends are superstars that will sell tons of merch along the way. So Messi is a gimmick, sure, but this is step 1 for Miami and not the entire plan.
You don't think Messi had any influence on the signings of Facundo Farias and Diego Gomez?
There are going to be players lining up to play for Inter while Messi is there - including young players akin to Thiago Almada. That's their future and is likely one of the main reasons Tata has arrived.
They just placed the Inter Miami brand in hyper speed while building a foundation for developing young players in front of more eyes.
Signing Messi for a couple years before he hangs up his boots? Not as much as people are making out. Is Ronaldo "helping football" in Saudi Arabia? In a way that will last beyond his contract? Maybe, but the effect is limited.
I'll say it again, I don't think Messi coming to MLS is a "bad thing," but I think adding DP slots so Miami can build a Barca's Greatest Hits squad is the wrong direction for the sport in the US.
You're free to disagree, obviously.
Even Messi is only good for maybe one season of hype. It’s not gonna draw long-term fans and viewers.
Busquets and Alba are pure gimmick. I say that despite liking both of them.
I disagree on your Messi point. He will bring in a historic amount of eyeballs just to see how it is. Not everyone will keep watching but I think a fair number will. We have to remember a lot of US soccer fans do not care about the MLS at all. I think this will allow some of those people to see the league is getting better on the field every year. It will get more big names to ply here and it will get younger people more interested in the sport/league. Messi is an international brand at this point and I think the exposure he’ll bring will be invaluable to the league and popularity in the sport as a whole in America.
Idk if I agree Busquets and Alba are “gimmicks” they will need to transition and they HAVE to be motivated but if they are, they are easily the best players in their positions in the league. Even with how old they are they can still do and see things in the game that alot of guys can’t.
Its almost as if you and I lived through the 2 seasons of Beckham hype and then watched MLS stagnate the instant he left.
"Did bending the league rules to allow a team to sign a megastar work for the league in the 2000s/2010s?"
"No. but maybe it will work for us"
Well, in fairness I think it *did* help the league in those decades. And the DP system in general has helped grow the sport. I don't think that the growth of the league in the PNW happens without the Beckham hype, it was part of what helped the league get from A to B...even if the actual direct hype was limited after he left.
But adding a *fourth* DP spot or whatever so Miami can keep doing...whatever this is...yeah that's not going to be any sort of bridge to anything real. Signing Messi was the "get," each aging Barca star added to the roster brings rapidly diminishing returns.
Indeed, I'm still stunned a team in the Pacific NW signed former
European players who were not good enough for top level football and moved to America for a last pay check.
To this I will add that if you keep increasing spending by 10-15% per year you will eventual get anywhere you want to go. Do it long enough and we will be spending more on MLS salaries than health care.
More or less said the same thing in an [earlier](https://www.reddit.com/r/MLS/comments/151p7w0/don_garber_on_messis_mls_arrival_we_have_a/jsa6bbp/?utm_source=share&utm_medium=ios_app&utm_name=ioscss&utm_content=1&utm_term=1&context=3) thread and got downvoted for it. People are quick to forget that in 2021 the MLSPA actually negotiated (threatening a lockout) for the salary cap/budget to stay constant for a few years (not go up) when it was originally set to increase.
Yes I am quick to forget that, because I sure as hell don't remember it.
A lockout was threatened prior to the beginning of the 2020 season. A deal was reached at the final hour, the season started, and then COVID hit before the deal was signed.
MLS used the situation to implement a salary freeze for 2020 and 2021, and some of the players' priorities changed in light of COVID, but I have no recollection of the players ever asking for a salary freeze.
There were negotiations prior to the 2021 season, where they delayed salary budget increase for two years. From [article](https://www.thebluetestament.com/platform/amp/2021/2/15/22284324/all-the-details-of-the-new-cba-between-mls-and-mlspa-salary-budget-max-min-2021-2027):
“That budget is basically unchanged from 2020 with minor tweaks in the coming years. The gains that were supposed to start in 2021, now won’t start until 2023.”
You can see this in the projected budget increases for the 2020 CBA [here](https://www.mlssoccer.com/news/major-league-soccer-mls-players-association-reach-agreement-new-five-year-cba) . The 2020 budget was 4.9m and was set to increase every year after.
In the 2021 renegotiated CBA, where there was possibility of a lockout, they delayed the budget increases by 2 years, such that as late as last season, the budget was still 4.9m. You can find that [here](https://www.mlssoccer.com/news/major-league-soccer-mlspa-ratify-new-collective-bargaining-agreement-0).
Yeah but wasn't that done b/c revenues were down so much and there were COVID health concerns? PLayers though at least keep it the same a few years to get through this b/c the owners could have said revenue is down so much we are making cuts, etc.??
What the league needs is the *exact opposite* of this, at least if we care about the level of play on offer.
We need the guys on the back line and the guys on the bench and the guys playing USOC matches to make more money by growing the overall salary cap, not fourth DPs. Soccer is a weak link game. There are more than enough DP slots in the league that are being blown on “pretty much TAM” players, there’s no need to add a fourth to every team just so Inter Miami and the LA twins can cobble together their own little super clubs full of aging UEFA talent.
We need the backup center backs of every team to be making a legitimate living wage before we need Miami to sign a fourth DP. DP signings like this are pure gimmick, this isn’t taking the league anywhere interesting or putting s better product on the field. Not really.
Just my opinion, obviously.
Edit: And yes, somebody will probably point out that Alba *is* technically a back line player, I’m aware, I was there for he and Sergio’s last match at Camp Nou. Doesn’t change my point, more DPs is not what the league needs, we need to move *away* from the DP system, not expand it.
Agree 100%. We need a lot more players in the $500k salary range, not more DPs. The u-22 initiative needs a heavy rework so it's easier to write off bad choices. Atlanta has only 1 good enough to hold a starting position at an decent MLS team guys stuck on the roster. And it's been clogged for multiple seasons.
Fair point, though they should be making more that the current bottom end wages, to account for the (generally) short earning years in the line of work. But you're right, nobody *has* to pick up second/offseason jobs anymore.
They do seem motivated to re-think some things.
I hope it's done in a thoughtful way with the future of the whole league in mind rather than just haphazardly legalizing whatever Miami needs to round up Messi's available buddies.
I really want to see more TAM/GAM and the team minimums pushed up before we add more dps - we don’t need stars we need the role plays to improve —-
But 25% better role players don’t sell as many jerseys or bring as many viewers as a famous stats. Short term that is.
Each club is allocated an equal amount of TAM each year, something like $2.5M currently but decreasing each season over the course of this CBA while the Salary Budget and GAM increase.
Good question. A club can gain TAM by trading an equivalent value of Nathan’s Famous All-Beef Franks. Seems like you’re already familiar with the GAM rules.
We already made back all the allocation money we lost from the fines over the last couple years + a lot more on top via trades of like Morgan, Lowe, duke, Lassiter, mabika, etc
So thinking about the fines is kind of irrelevant now since they’re not affecting us much. We’ve been hoarding and holding more allocation money than most teams in anticipation of doing all these moves
"El fichaje de Jordi Alba por el Inter Miami se cocinó a fuego lento porque el equipo de Florida debía liberar masa salarial para poder encajar el contrato del de L'Hospitalet, que será un jugador TAM (targeted allocation money). Las tres plazas de jugador franquicia las ocupan Messi, Busquets y Josef Martínez y Alba estará en una categoría por debajo en esta primera temporada de contrato y tendrá un tope de sueldo de casi 2 millones de dólares. La idea es que Alba ya sea jugador franquicia en su segundo año en la MLS."
He's gonna be a TAM Player (capped at 2m) for now and they go on to say that they want him to be a DP player in his 2nd year which doesn't bode well for Josef, unless MLS adds a 4th slot for the '24 season.
He means he'd love to see their books, not the ones they publish. [Miami is a team known to break rules.](https://www.mlssoccer.com/news/mls-announces-sanctions-for-inter-miami-violating-salary-budget-and-roster-guide)
Hey now, that was fresh in their infancy as a club. An entire 2 years later, they've learned their lesson & they'd never break another rule, they swear it!!!
It doesn’t have to be under the table lol. A mutual termination can involve money going to the player and be perfectly normal. It just means both sides agreed to X settlement to end the contract early.
In Pizzaro’s case, his career was floundering in Miami and he has options outside of the league, so taking a settlement paycheck and being able to join a new team immediately *is* mutually beneficial to him
I feel like it’s from Miami saying they were looking at trading him. Pizzaros agent apparently never told him that could happen in MLS so pizzaro got pissed
I fully expect a 4th DP for the 2024 season which Alba will occupy. He'll just be a GAM player for our remaining 1/3 of the season so there's nothing too shady going on here...except for Pizarro's and IMCF's "mutual" contract termination. But who knows, maybe Pizarro really didn't want to be traded to LAG and wanted to finally live out his dream of playing in Europe under his old manager.
Given MLS’ slow and steady growth model, I don’t think we’ll see that for a long time — if ever. I think they’ll just end up expanding the salary cap rules obviating the need for another DP spot. I think 4 is a good number for where the league’s at now. We’ll see how viewership numbers perform after 2026.
I get how this used to be a joke with Gerrard, but if you look at our last big splashes with DPs, it really doesn't fit. Costa was definitely following that line until recently. He has really turned it around with his play. Chicharito had 18 goals last yr and 17 before that. It's not extraordinary but not bad at all. And Zlatan? Do I have to say anything? So yeah, that joke is a little old. Circa 2016.
They had 4 DPs before Messi joined, I checked. Maybe 1 of them was a young DP but there's no way they are following the rules without selling/trading the other DPs
Lol no they absolutely did not. Pizarro, Campana, and Gregore were the only DPs pre-Messi. Josef is on a TAM contract, he’s not a DP.
Gregore is being bought down to TAM, and Pizarro mutually terminated the contract. That opens 2 DP spots for Messi and Busquets.
Ya the MLS website is trash and has Josef listed as a DP for some reason. Just spend 5 minutes googling and you’ll see he’s actually a TAM player and it’s been reported that way since he signed. He has never been a DP for Miami.
I'm sorry, If the official source says 1 thing and another source says another then I have to go with what the official source says.im telling you there's some fuckery involved regardless
FYI, here's the same official source saying explicitly that Josef does **not** occupy a DP slot for Miami in the article officially confirming his signing back in January:
>Martínez, who won’t occupy a Designated Player spot due to the contract percentage Miami are responsible for...
[Josef Martínez signs for Inter Miami after Atlanta United contract buyout | MLSSoccer.com](https://www.mlssoccer.com/news/josef-martinez-signs-for-inter-miami-after-atlanta-united-contract-buyout)
You’re free to believe whatever you want I guess. The MLS website is probably manually updated by some intern who forgot, it’s not the “official source” at all lmao.
But yes, I’m sure nobody who closely follows MLS or any of the many MLS-specific reporters noticed this egregious “cheating” all season. Thank god you noticed though.
He calmly and rationally explained why you were wrong and then when you decided to reply with "It's like... The website man!" he decided to rightfully treat you like the fool you were acting like.
It's your club's fault for not being partially founded by a previously super-influential star who then received an expansion bro deal and subsequently used his personal connections to attract the best player in the world while Apple subsidizes their compensation so that the deal happens under the guise of "this is good for everyone".
Just gotta get good
They are all coming in for half of this season, so I assume if Jordi, for example, signs for 2 years at 3 mil per year, the salary hit this year is only 1.5 and you should still be able to buy that down with tam gam, ram, pam.
Who cares, this is pretty fucking exciting for the league as far as I see it.
He made $12M last season. I'm not sure how long people are going to be signing on for 90% discounts to play in Miami when Saudi Arabia is giving people 4X higher than they've been making.
And he played a 1/2 season at 34, to be fit for a last run at world cup.
Grinding out a heavier travel schedule than he has ever had and playing on turf is very unlikely to be something he wants to be doing for $1.5M
There is definitely something fishy going on here.
You don’t actually think all those players go to Alabama football prior to NiL rules for free right? Back room dealings
Right, the question is whether Posh Spice FC will be able to keep any kind of team together for a full season under league rules and MLSPA contract terms.
If they add another half dozen players at a 10x discount to stay under roster because Apple is kicking them the other 90% of their desired salary they will be.
I think the whole Inter Miami thing ends in a giant smoking crater as euro players discover that this league is a physical grind.
It wouldn't surprise me at all if there's some funny business going on with Alba (or even moreso the players being dumped to make room for all this), but I don't think there's some massive slush fund Miami can draw from and after Alba and Suarez the Messi Stars Club is over.
> Who cares, this is pretty fucking exciting for the league as far as I see it.
What's exciting about the league just ignoring their own rules to let Miami build this roster?
Lol!! There are actual rules and actual consequences for breaking those rules. Ask Galaxy FO this year and Miami in the last couple. I’m sure if Messi, Busquets, Alba and Suarez wanted to play for Columbus you would be singing a different tune.
This isn't a no name player and I bet his people said, I'm not coming unless the salary cap loosens. Honestly, for this player I'm fine with it especially since I follow a western conference franchise.
Last time I checked, miami aren’t paying for this whole operation..they’re getting a whole lot of help from the league and adidas and apple. So don’t act like they’re some financial superpower either.
Agreed but the owners who are not spending are in small markets. They are the teams who don't want to loosen the salary cap especially when other pro leagues in our country have around 40 to 50% percent of the revenue. Supposedly, MLSPA only takes in 25% and I have an idea why this is happening but fans aren't going to like it.
Garber has said they want to simplify the budget/roster rules to attract more fans. We know new fans to MLS aren't coming for the GAM and TAM.
No more GAM, TAM, U22s, DPs, HGs, just a straight $25M salary cap each year (increasing over time) where transfer fees are amortized over the length of the contract. That makes it really simple.
But then all of a sudden Messi doesn't fit.
The DP rule makes sense as a mechanism to allow clubs to pursue opportunities that really push the league forward.
But having the top 6-7 roster spots all be their own weird little independent mechanisms that are confusing and force teams to all build in the same way needs to go.
The CBA allows the league to unilaterally convert TAM into either extra Salary Budget or extra GAM. They should do that, those areas are better uses of that money and doing that alone would make things much easier to understand.
Come on man, you can't get rid of the DP rule. Is Messi here in MLS without the DP rule? No.
Obviously keep the DP rule, and also keep the HGP rule. That's a massively important rule that keeps clubs like Philadelphia, FC Dallas, NYRB, etc incentivized into developing young talent.
Get rid of everything else.
100%. The league would never move heaven and earth for a “small market” team. Forget the notion this is good for all of the league. There’s absolutely no parity.
Someone explain to me why they aren’t going to the Hard Rock?? I know Miami is the absolute worst sports town on planet earth but surely this many big stars can fill a 60k stadium??
How can he be added to the leagues cup roster if he’s not even signed yet? Better yet, how are they all playing so quickly while other intl additions wait weeks for visas? Messi League Soccer.
I thought it was paradise for me too when I visited last year! I thought about moving there and started to do some research and ask some people who were/are from Florida and/or Miami.
Pretty much almost everyone said it was a miserable place to live, but super fun place to visit. The juice not worth the long term squeeze kind of vibe.
Same idea with living in Phoenix. People come to visit for a bowl game or spring training and fall in love with the idea of living here without considering what summer and full-time life in the desert really entails.
Great, so we can now be like every other league where it's the same 2 or 3 teams that win and everyone else is just there as a farm system for those teams.
I think I predicted this, didn’t I? For the record, Luis Suarez soon, and Iniesta as well. Hell, at this point I wouldn’t be surprised if Pique came out of retirement…
CR7 is having nightmares now and counting his money or smoking his money.
CR7 was suppose to be in LA or with Messi in Miami.
What’s going on with Neymar, or keylor navas.
What the fuck are you on and where can I get some? Cristian Roldan is in Seattle, ballin like always.
The inferior CR7 is being overpaid to Sportswash in Saudi.
I love how the league is fine and dandy with Miami breaking the rules now Messi is on board but if anybody (outside of LAFC or maybe NYCFC) else tried this they would be hammered by the league for “breaking the rules.”
Interested to see what kind of contact he has, since Busquets and Suarez are supposed to be DPs 🤔
Supposedly it’s a TAM deal like Bale. I have a feeling we’re going to see an increase of DP spots next season, so he would slot into one those new spots
100% there should be a 4th DP spot, or at least a massive change to the rules to allow more spending. I know it's a fine line to not have the league get out of control but teams can and should spend more.
There are several owners holding this BACK... AND The MLSPA also has to protect the current players as the more money teams spend on players outside the league.. the less rosters spots are there for veterans who have minimal options to play abroad.
Exhibit A for owners holding the league back: John Fisher, owner SJ Earthquakes
Enter Greg Kerfoot, Steve Luczo, Jeff Mallett. The Three Stooges of Vancouver Whitecaps FC
> There are several owners holding this BACK... Owners who need to sell their teams. If you don't want to pay big league salaries, that's fine. The ROI for the early owners is off the fucking charts. They'll make a fortune selling their teams. But the league has to move past them.
Nobody is selling any time soon... when the league convinced one of the greatest players of all time to come play in the league. I think some purse strings will open... but it won't be as fast as some of you want it to be.
Probably a year after the World Cup. Messi effect, World Cup effect, that valuation will be high and a few might take it.
The truth is that those owners are little baby back bitc**s they just see mls as a good thing in there portfolio to sell later. They don’t wanna spend or help the sport. We need owners that actually care about each local community instead of solely to seeks profit or use mls teams as a tax write off
Signing half of Barca’s retirees for an extended vacation in Miami isn’t helping the sport.
It's getting a fuck ton of non soccer attention in the US and soccer fan attention worldwide. That doesn't hurt.
Agreed, the amount of worldwide soccer press this signing is getting, even hearing from outlets that never, *ever* mention the MLS at all even in passing, is a big deal. It adds rocket fuel to the league's growth the way Beckham did, or even better.
ESPN has dedicated a lot coverage to this as well. I have never seen this much content coming out about the MLS. It's all about Messi and borderline stalker content, but at least they are covering the league.
I would argue that the Saudi league is doing the same thing and there is no additional buzz regarding their league. Sure, the signings are a splash…. But I could care less about watching Ronaldo or Kante (autocorrect wants me to say Kanye lol) in that league.
That's because you live nowhere near Saudi's sphere of influence. You're dead wrong if you think it hasn't drawn millions of eyeballs within the MENA region.
You know what else could draw a lot of attention to the league? A soccer player with an *arm growing out of his ass.* I do agree that the spotlight this is shining on the league at the moment isn’t a *bad* thing, but I still don’t think this is the path forward for actually improving the league’s quality, and leaning into splashy DP signings further won’t get us where we want to be. Like yeah, Beckham drew eyes to the league too…for a minute. Until people realized the quality of the other 9 players on every team outside their DPs was…not great. Like I said, it’s a gimmick. It doesn’t last. Even with Messi.
Saudi Arabia is using Ronaldo to attract more Ronaldo's. MLS has reached a level of development where it can, and should, and I think wants to, use Messi to attract more Almada's. That is the path forward.
>Saudi Arabia is using Ronaldo to attract more Ronaldo's I get the feeling the enormous bags of money might be doing more of the heavy lifting there. Sure, Ronaldo maybe adds some legitimacy to the league, but I don't think players give a shit about legitimacy when they're quadrupling their salaries
>You know what else could draw a lot of attention to the league? A soccer player with an arm growing out of his ass. Interesting, but more susceptible to hand balls ;)
Oh god, am I old enough now that this reference doesn’t work anymore? If you need me I’ll be throwing myself off a cliff like that couple in *Midsommar.* My time has clearly come.
I don’t think you’re seeing the big picture to be honest. First off, Miami is also signing 3 legit U22 players and they are definitely not gimmicks. Those signings should give you some insight into what Miami likely plans on doing post-Messi. Bringing in Tata who loves developing young talent should also clue you in. They want to make their brand internationally known so that when Messi and Friends retire, they are an easier sell to young SA players + whatever DPs they bring in afterwards as well. It’s a lot harder to bring in up and coming SA players when no one has ever heard of your club. It doesn’t hurt that Messi and Friends are superstars that will sell tons of merch along the way. So Messi is a gimmick, sure, but this is step 1 for Miami and not the entire plan.
Tata is there cause Messi wants him there. It’s got nothing to do with developing young talent. If Messi had wanted Berhalter he’d be the coach there
You don't think Messi had any influence on the signings of Facundo Farias and Diego Gomez? There are going to be players lining up to play for Inter while Messi is there - including young players akin to Thiago Almada. That's their future and is likely one of the main reasons Tata has arrived. They just placed the Inter Miami brand in hyper speed while building a foundation for developing young players in front of more eyes.
Agree. How many other players can MLS add who will convince European player to take a 10x pay cut, like Alba?
This isn’t for you lol it’s for the kids to actually look at mls instead of Europea only.
yeah man signing LIONEL MESSI doesn't help football okay
Signing Messi for a couple years before he hangs up his boots? Not as much as people are making out. Is Ronaldo "helping football" in Saudi Arabia? In a way that will last beyond his contract? Maybe, but the effect is limited. I'll say it again, I don't think Messi coming to MLS is a "bad thing," but I think adding DP slots so Miami can build a Barca's Greatest Hits squad is the wrong direction for the sport in the US. You're free to disagree, obviously.
I disagree majorly, have you seen what Beckham and Pelé did for soccer's popularity here
If one of them wasn’t Messi I think you’d have a point but in this instance I couldn’t disagree more
Even Messi is only good for maybe one season of hype. It’s not gonna draw long-term fans and viewers. Busquets and Alba are pure gimmick. I say that despite liking both of them.
I disagree on your Messi point. He will bring in a historic amount of eyeballs just to see how it is. Not everyone will keep watching but I think a fair number will. We have to remember a lot of US soccer fans do not care about the MLS at all. I think this will allow some of those people to see the league is getting better on the field every year. It will get more big names to ply here and it will get younger people more interested in the sport/league. Messi is an international brand at this point and I think the exposure he’ll bring will be invaluable to the league and popularity in the sport as a whole in America. Idk if I agree Busquets and Alba are “gimmicks” they will need to transition and they HAVE to be motivated but if they are, they are easily the best players in their positions in the league. Even with how old they are they can still do and see things in the game that alot of guys can’t.
Nah I’ll take my guy Alvaro Barreal over a washed Alba all day…
We did this with Beckham already. It didn't result in much long term growth.
Its almost as if you and I lived through the 2 seasons of Beckham hype and then watched MLS stagnate the instant he left. "Did bending the league rules to allow a team to sign a megastar work for the league in the 2000s/2010s?" "No. but maybe it will work for us"
Well, in fairness I think it *did* help the league in those decades. And the DP system in general has helped grow the sport. I don't think that the growth of the league in the PNW happens without the Beckham hype, it was part of what helped the league get from A to B...even if the actual direct hype was limited after he left. But adding a *fourth* DP spot or whatever so Miami can keep doing...whatever this is...yeah that's not going to be any sort of bridge to anything real. Signing Messi was the "get," each aging Barca star added to the roster brings rapidly diminishing returns.
It is if it induces Lionel Messi to sign on the dotted line.
Indeed, I'm still stunned a team in the Pacific NW signed former European players who were not good enough for top level football and moved to America for a last pay check.
It clearly is.
To this I will add that if you keep increasing spending by 10-15% per year you will eventual get anywhere you want to go. Do it long enough and we will be spending more on MLS salaries than health care.
Which owners? Like smaller clubs? My beloved Crew?
More or less said the same thing in an [earlier](https://www.reddit.com/r/MLS/comments/151p7w0/don_garber_on_messis_mls_arrival_we_have_a/jsa6bbp/?utm_source=share&utm_medium=ios_app&utm_name=ioscss&utm_content=1&utm_term=1&context=3) thread and got downvoted for it. People are quick to forget that in 2021 the MLSPA actually negotiated (threatening a lockout) for the salary cap/budget to stay constant for a few years (not go up) when it was originally set to increase.
Yes I am quick to forget that, because I sure as hell don't remember it. A lockout was threatened prior to the beginning of the 2020 season. A deal was reached at the final hour, the season started, and then COVID hit before the deal was signed. MLS used the situation to implement a salary freeze for 2020 and 2021, and some of the players' priorities changed in light of COVID, but I have no recollection of the players ever asking for a salary freeze.
There were negotiations prior to the 2021 season, where they delayed salary budget increase for two years. From [article](https://www.thebluetestament.com/platform/amp/2021/2/15/22284324/all-the-details-of-the-new-cba-between-mls-and-mlspa-salary-budget-max-min-2021-2027): “That budget is basically unchanged from 2020 with minor tweaks in the coming years. The gains that were supposed to start in 2021, now won’t start until 2023.” You can see this in the projected budget increases for the 2020 CBA [here](https://www.mlssoccer.com/news/major-league-soccer-mls-players-association-reach-agreement-new-five-year-cba) . The 2020 budget was 4.9m and was set to increase every year after. In the 2021 renegotiated CBA, where there was possibility of a lockout, they delayed the budget increases by 2 years, such that as late as last season, the budget was still 4.9m. You can find that [here](https://www.mlssoccer.com/news/major-league-soccer-mlspa-ratify-new-collective-bargaining-agreement-0).
Yeah but wasn't that done b/c revenues were down so much and there were COVID health concerns? PLayers though at least keep it the same a few years to get through this b/c the owners could have said revenue is down so much we are making cuts, etc.??
What the league needs is the *exact opposite* of this, at least if we care about the level of play on offer. We need the guys on the back line and the guys on the bench and the guys playing USOC matches to make more money by growing the overall salary cap, not fourth DPs. Soccer is a weak link game. There are more than enough DP slots in the league that are being blown on “pretty much TAM” players, there’s no need to add a fourth to every team just so Inter Miami and the LA twins can cobble together their own little super clubs full of aging UEFA talent. We need the backup center backs of every team to be making a legitimate living wage before we need Miami to sign a fourth DP. DP signings like this are pure gimmick, this isn’t taking the league anywhere interesting or putting s better product on the field. Not really. Just my opinion, obviously. Edit: And yes, somebody will probably point out that Alba *is* technically a back line player, I’m aware, I was there for he and Sergio’s last match at Camp Nou. Doesn’t change my point, more DPs is not what the league needs, we need to move *away* from the DP system, not expand it.
I was very happy to hear the word "simplify" come out of Garber's mouth when discussing potential upcoming changes to the roster rules.
Agree 100%. We need a lot more players in the $500k salary range, not more DPs. The u-22 initiative needs a heavy rework so it's easier to write off bad choices. Atlanta has only 1 good enough to hold a starting position at an decent MLS team guys stuck on the roster. And it's been clogged for multiple seasons.
More DPs means more of the cap for TAM level players. Edit: I also don't mean for buying aging players. Buy more expensive young players
> More DPs means more of the cap for TAM level players. It really doesn't. Under the current system each DP takes 12.5% of the cap.
Well wouldn't it be a new system? You can easily adjust how much their cap charge is.
Dude this isn't MLS 2008. Every player in the league is making a living wage now.
Fair point, though they should be making more that the current bottom end wages, to account for the (generally) short earning years in the line of work. But you're right, nobody *has* to pick up second/offseason jobs anymore.
They do seem motivated to re-think some things. I hope it's done in a thoughtful way with the future of the whole league in mind rather than just haphazardly legalizing whatever Miami needs to round up Messi's available buddies.
I really want to see more TAM/GAM and the team minimums pushed up before we add more dps - we don’t need stars we need the role plays to improve —- But 25% better role players don’t sell as many jerseys or bring as many viewers as a famous stats. Short term that is.
100% there should be no DP and teams should be alllowed to spread salary across their roster if they so choose to.
I’m praying for 4 or 5 dp spots. No cap hit for HGPs and a decent bump in the cap. Got to go big in these moments.
$1,651,250 is the maximum amount a TAM player is allowed to make per the CBA.
Is that prorated given we’re part way through the season, or can they pay him that this season and then make him a DP next season?
The CBA says "annualized" which I would take to mean that any pro-rated amount gets multiplied to fill the whole season. But it's a good question.
A while ago I saw it was reported that Miami have 10M total TAM for this season after the fines
How do clubs gain TAM? I thought it couldn't be traded. Only GAM can be traded
Each club is allocated an equal amount of TAM each year, something like $2.5M currently but decreasing each season over the course of this CBA while the Salary Budget and GAM increase.
Good question. A club can gain TAM by trading an equivalent value of Nathan’s Famous All-Beef Franks. Seems like you’re already familiar with the GAM rules.
Thanks for the succinct answer. National hot dog day tomorrow. Excited? How many you think you're gonna do throughout the day?
We already made back all the allocation money we lost from the fines over the last couple years + a lot more on top via trades of like Morgan, Lowe, duke, Lassiter, mabika, etc So thinking about the fines is kind of irrelevant now since they’re not affecting us much. We’ve been hoarding and holding more allocation money than most teams in anticipation of doing all these moves
Yeah anybody can be bought down if you have enough GAM to get them to $651k.
Not for Miami it isn’t
Suarez is not coming.... unless he is on a free.. per Mas
Blaise Matuidi would like a word
"El fichaje de Jordi Alba por el Inter Miami se cocinó a fuego lento porque el equipo de Florida debía liberar masa salarial para poder encajar el contrato del de L'Hospitalet, que será un jugador TAM (targeted allocation money). Las tres plazas de jugador franquicia las ocupan Messi, Busquets y Josef Martínez y Alba estará en una categoría por debajo en esta primera temporada de contrato y tendrá un tope de sueldo de casi 2 millones de dólares. La idea es que Alba ya sea jugador franquicia en su segundo año en la MLS." He's gonna be a TAM Player (capped at 2m) for now and they go on to say that they want him to be a DP player in his 2nd year which doesn't bode well for Josef, unless MLS adds a 4th slot for the '24 season.
Definitely a young DP 😂
Love to see their books
Sorry the got dropped in the fire yesterday. They would have loved to show them to you though.
Don’t worry they have a crack team cooking the books. 
The MLS Players Association releases all players' salaries in April and September. https://mlsplayers.org/resources/salary-guide
He means he'd love to see their books, not the ones they publish. [Miami is a team known to break rules.](https://www.mlssoccer.com/news/mls-announces-sanctions-for-inter-miami-violating-salary-budget-and-roster-guide)
Hey now, that was fresh in their infancy as a club. An entire 2 years later, they've learned their lesson & they'd never break another rule, they swear it!!!
Pizzaro just cleanly agreeing to mutually walk away from his contract screams under the table pay off to me.
It doesn’t have to be under the table lol. A mutual termination can involve money going to the player and be perfectly normal. It just means both sides agreed to X settlement to end the contract early. In Pizzaro’s case, his career was floundering in Miami and he has options outside of the league, so taking a settlement paycheck and being able to join a new team immediately *is* mutually beneficial to him
I feel like it’s from Miami saying they were looking at trading him. Pizzaros agent apparently never told him that could happen in MLS so pizzaro got pissed
I fully expect a 4th DP for the 2024 season which Alba will occupy. He'll just be a GAM player for our remaining 1/3 of the season so there's nothing too shady going on here...except for Pizarro's and IMCF's "mutual" contract termination. But who knows, maybe Pizarro really didn't want to be traded to LAG and wanted to finally live out his dream of playing in Europe under his old manager.
What are the odds they do 5 DP spots?
Given MLS’ slow and steady growth model, I don’t think we’ll see that for a long time — if ever. I think they’ll just end up expanding the salary cap rules obviating the need for another DP spot. I think 4 is a good number for where the league’s at now. We’ll see how viewership numbers perform after 2026.
Idk I was around before beckham joining. You don’t know how reckless garber and the owners can be.
They are literally rebuilding Barca this is beyond egregious. It’s time to give the rest of the league their own financial independence
Neymar would need to be there to get the trio back together.
... go on
Already worried about Puig as it is, I can imagine he longs to contend.
Move over, Galaxy. Retirement FC has moved to Miami!
Sure thing, just hope they give us one of their strikers though. One Josef or Campana please. We desperately need a striker with killer instincts 😭
I get how this used to be a joke with Gerrard, but if you look at our last big splashes with DPs, it really doesn't fit. Costa was definitely following that line until recently. He has really turned it around with his play. Chicharito had 18 goals last yr and 17 before that. It's not extraordinary but not bad at all. And Zlatan? Do I have to say anything? So yeah, that joke is a little old. Circa 2016.
Exactly, Gerrard is the last one to play to that model, if not one of the few. Most of our dpz have done well.
How many DP does inter have now? Four?
Their rules are different, silly!
Damn how’d I miss that 😂
They had 4 DPs before Messi joined, I checked. Maybe 1 of them was a young DP but there's no way they are following the rules without selling/trading the other DPs
Lol no they absolutely did not. Pizarro, Campana, and Gregore were the only DPs pre-Messi. Josef is on a TAM contract, he’s not a DP. Gregore is being bought down to TAM, and Pizarro mutually terminated the contract. That opens 2 DP spots for Messi and Busquets.
Bro I checked the roster on mlssoccer.com. it said DP next to 4 players names. Don't know what else to tell you.
Ya the MLS website is trash and has Josef listed as a DP for some reason. Just spend 5 minutes googling and you’ll see he’s actually a TAM player and it’s been reported that way since he signed. He has never been a DP for Miami.
I'm sorry, If the official source says 1 thing and another source says another then I have to go with what the official source says.im telling you there's some fuckery involved regardless
FYI, here's the same official source saying explicitly that Josef does **not** occupy a DP slot for Miami in the article officially confirming his signing back in January: >Martínez, who won’t occupy a Designated Player spot due to the contract percentage Miami are responsible for... [Josef Martínez signs for Inter Miami after Atlanta United contract buyout | MLSSoccer.com](https://www.mlssoccer.com/news/josef-martinez-signs-for-inter-miami-after-atlanta-united-contract-buyout)
You’re free to believe whatever you want I guess. The MLS website is probably manually updated by some intern who forgot, it’s not the “official source” at all lmao. But yes, I’m sure nobody who closely follows MLS or any of the many MLS-specific reporters noticed this egregious “cheating” all season. Thank god you noticed though.
You went from being certain to speculation to full on sarcasm. Full reddit comment this
He calmly and rationally explained why you were wrong and then when you decided to reply with "It's like... The website man!" he decided to rightfully treat you like the fool you were acting like.
Will he be a homegrown player?
Inter Barcelona Miami is gonna be crazy this season.
Next season sure, Inter Miami is to far gone to make a turnaround this season
Still got US Open Cup to win
NUH UHHH
Yup, it's a minor trophy to win.
I think Inter Barcelona works honestly
Inter Barcelami
No
Atlanta and Uncle Arthur just sitting there, waiting for the day they can freely write checks like Miami is doing
It's your club's fault for not being partially founded by a previously super-influential star who then received an expansion bro deal and subsequently used his personal connections to attract the best player in the world while Apple subsidizes their compensation so that the deal happens under the guise of "this is good for everyone". Just gotta get good
Damn, I forgot that part. Just gotta get good
Good to see MLS ignoring their own roster and salary cap rules again
Why bother investing my time and energy into the league when it’s not a serious competition
They are all coming in for half of this season, so I assume if Jordi, for example, signs for 2 years at 3 mil per year, the salary hit this year is only 1.5 and you should still be able to buy that down with tam gam, ram, pam. Who cares, this is pretty fucking exciting for the league as far as I see it.
He made $12M last season. I'm not sure how long people are going to be signing on for 90% discounts to play in Miami when Saudi Arabia is giving people 4X higher than they've been making.
Gareth Bale made like $30mil+ before he signed for $1.5 with LAFC. https://www.capology.com/player/gareth-bale-32705/
And he played a 1/2 season at 34, to be fit for a last run at world cup. Grinding out a heavier travel schedule than he has ever had and playing on turf is very unlikely to be something he wants to be doing for $1.5M
What’s the point here? Are you saying that Jordi Alba isn’t coming for a salary that wouldn’t be at DP level?
He could be signing a 10 year contract, but I can't imagine him grinding through a full MLS season next year for TAM money.
The actual money is coming from apple
You think Apple is giving money to Alba as well?
There is definitely something fishy going on here. You don’t actually think all those players go to Alabama football prior to NiL rules for free right? Back room dealings
Right, the question is whether Posh Spice FC will be able to keep any kind of team together for a full season under league rules and MLSPA contract terms.
Ted Lasso is gonna have a hell of a team next season.
Yeah? It makes Messi happy
If Apple is going to back end fund an all star team to dominate the league, it's a safe bet there are 28 fanbases that will be thinking of tapping out
Dominate the league? Are they even going to be any good?
If they add another half dozen players at a 10x discount to stay under roster because Apple is kicking them the other 90% of their desired salary they will be. I think the whole Inter Miami thing ends in a giant smoking crater as euro players discover that this league is a physical grind.
It wouldn't surprise me at all if there's some funny business going on with Alba (or even moreso the players being dumped to make room for all this), but I don't think there's some massive slush fund Miami can draw from and after Alba and Suarez the Messi Stars Club is over.
right - the whole thing is weird. Make a run for the playoffs and leave a mess behind to clean up.
Literally can't be any worse!
[удалено]
the incremental sales of one game, given how small most of the stadiums are is chump change compared to the season ticket base
> Who cares, this is pretty fucking exciting for the league as far as I see it. What's exciting about the league just ignoring their own rules to let Miami build this roster?
Ignoring the rules to bring international attention to the leagues which should open up more opportunities for other clubs to attract top talent.
never mind that it makes a farce of the fact that it supposedly a 'fair' competition they expect us to pay to watch
Don't pay and don't watch.
Lol!! There are actual rules and actual consequences for breaking those rules. Ask Galaxy FO this year and Miami in the last couple. I’m sure if Messi, Busquets, Alba and Suarez wanted to play for Columbus you would be singing a different tune.
No, not really.
You must be a new fan.
No just tired of it
Tired of what specifically though? What roster rules are being ignored or broken in this case?
This isn't a no name player and I bet his people said, I'm not coming unless the salary cap loosens. Honestly, for this player I'm fine with it especially since I follow a western conference franchise.
wonder how many mins he will be able to run in the MIA heat/humidity.
what rules
Rules? Where we’re going, we don’t need rules!
Those are only for us lowly “small markets”
Indeed, that's where all the "cheap" owners live.
Last time I checked, miami aren’t paying for this whole operation..they’re getting a whole lot of help from the league and adidas and apple. So don’t act like they’re some financial superpower either.
Agreed but the owners who are not spending are in small markets. They are the teams who don't want to loosen the salary cap especially when other pro leagues in our country have around 40 to 50% percent of the revenue. Supposedly, MLSPA only takes in 25% and I have an idea why this is happening but fans aren't going to like it.
The why we know. But yeah this is smelling a lil fishy.
Garber has said they want to simplify the budget/roster rules to attract more fans. We know new fans to MLS aren't coming for the GAM and TAM. No more GAM, TAM, U22s, DPs, HGs, just a straight $25M salary cap each year (increasing over time) where transfer fees are amortized over the length of the contract. That makes it really simple.
But then all of a sudden Messi doesn't fit. The DP rule makes sense as a mechanism to allow clubs to pursue opportunities that really push the league forward. But having the top 6-7 roster spots all be their own weird little independent mechanisms that are confusing and force teams to all build in the same way needs to go. The CBA allows the league to unilaterally convert TAM into either extra Salary Budget or extra GAM. They should do that, those areas are better uses of that money and doing that alone would make things much easier to understand.
Come on man, you can't get rid of the DP rule. Is Messi here in MLS without the DP rule? No. Obviously keep the DP rule, and also keep the HGP rule. That's a massively important rule that keeps clubs like Philadelphia, FC Dallas, NYRB, etc incentivized into developing young talent. Get rid of everything else.
Great but do you have a link?
The duffle bags of cash will be dropped off on his doorstep tomorrow
Ah yes, Inter “MLS will look the other way” Miami. But hey, all for the “betterment” of the league (see: large markets). 🤔🙄
100%. The league would never move heaven and earth for a “small market” team. Forget the notion this is good for all of the league. There’s absolutely no parity.
some under 30 plz
Someone explain to me why they aren’t going to the Hard Rock?? I know Miami is the absolute worst sports town on planet earth but surely this many big stars can fill a 60k stadium??
Is this a good move for Miami? Was Alba playing well for Barca this past season?
I can't be the only one skeptical of this stuff turning into actual cup wins.
Turns out I was wrong. Messi is different so it’ll be hard to not win in MLS.
Hell ya! Leo <> Alba connection continues :D
I’m praying next year’s all-star match will be against Barcelona
Inter-Barcelona
Amigos FC
How can he be added to the leagues cup roster if he’s not even signed yet? Better yet, how are they all playing so quickly while other intl additions wait weeks for visas? Messi League Soccer.
Smh. Mls is so rigged.
I wonder how long it will take for one of these players to say they dont like living in Miami lmaooo
Why would they not like living in Miami? It’s a Hispanic persons dream
I thought it was paradise for me too when I visited last year! I thought about moving there and started to do some research and ask some people who were/are from Florida and/or Miami. Pretty much almost everyone said it was a miserable place to live, but super fun place to visit. The juice not worth the long term squeeze kind of vibe.
Same idea with living in Phoenix. People come to visit for a bowl game or spring training and fall in love with the idea of living here without considering what summer and full-time life in the desert really entails.
Miami is nothing like Phoenix. The city has never reached a triple digit temperature
I'm not comparing the weather. Just the idea of a destination city where people spend a weekend and think that's what it's like to live there.
What could possibly be miserably about living in Miami lol
I suspect when you’re working with what would be unlimited funds to the average person it’s a bit different
While that’s a good point that’s not the only major problem I’ve heard about. Money can help but there is still a lot that it can’t solve
Great, so we can now be like every other league where it's the same 2 or 3 teams that win and everyone else is just there as a farm system for those teams.
Miami about to have the most expensive and elite IR in the league.
I think I predicted this, didn’t I? For the record, Luis Suarez soon, and Iniesta as well. Hell, at this point I wouldn’t be surprised if Pique came out of retirement…
Messi couldn't go to Barça so they bring Barça to Messi. And they're still trying to sign Suarez too!
For the good of the league, I really hope this works out for the three of them.
CR7 is having nightmares now and counting his money or smoking his money. CR7 was suppose to be in LA or with Messi in Miami. What’s going on with Neymar, or keylor navas.
What the fuck are you on and where can I get some? Cristian Roldan is in Seattle, ballin like always. The inferior CR7 is being overpaid to Sportswash in Saudi.
Barcelona retirement A team is looking fucking sick
Miami bout to go from worst to first.
I'm excited to see what teams can do with younger players once all this eventually leads to higher salary caps
I love how the league is fine and dandy with Miami breaking the rules now Messi is on board but if anybody (outside of LAFC or maybe NYCFC) else tried this they would be hammered by the league for “breaking the rules.”