Major League Soccer has expanded rapidly over the last few years, ever since David Beckham traded Europe for Los Angeles Galaxy in 2007. It's a haven for star names at the end of their careers, while other individuals have often looked to start afresh in the USA and Canada. A lot is often made about salaries and new figures released by the MLS Players Union have revealed exactly how much every player earns each year ... please log in to view this image Orlando City's Kaka is the highest paid player in the whole league, earning $6.66m annually. The 33-year-old Brazilian, a former winner of the Ballon d'Or at his peak in Europe, takes home far more than any of his Orlando team-mates. French defender Aurelien Collin ex-Stoke winger Brek Shea are the next highest earners on $500,000 and $475,000, respectively. Such is the vast discrepancy in wages in the MLS, there are a significant number of players on each and every roster who earn less than $100,000 per year, with many on the minimum salary of $50,000. At LA Galaxy, Liverpool legend Steven Gerrard is the MLS's second highest earner, having signed a contract worth $6.2m each season. Gerrard's former Anfield colleague Robbie Keane, who is enjoying a magnificent twilight to his career, is on $4.5m, while one-time Barcelona prodigy and Tottenham flop Giovani dos Santos earns $4m. New York City FC have added a number of star names to their ranks in the last 12 months and have two more of the league's top earners on their books in Frank Lampard ($6m) and David Villa ($5.61m). Surprisingly, Andrea Pirlo earns just a fraction of what they do at $2m. Since Thierry Henry called time on his career, the New York Red Bulls lack a real household name and Bradley Wright-Phillips is their star player now. Once a Football League journeyman in England, the 30-year-old striker scores goals for fun these days and earns $600,000 annually. His brother, Shaun, recently joined him and is on just $116,000 - he was earning more in a fortnight when he was at QPR as recently as June. In Toronto, Sunderland flop Jozy Altidore is contracted to receive $4.75m each year and is one of the league's big stars. Michael Bradley, once briefly of Aston Villa, earns as much as Lampard does at $6m, while Sebastian Giovinco takes home $5.6m. Ex-Aston Villa and West Brom striker Luke Moore is on a comparatively low $215,000. Also in Canada, Robert Earnshaw's contract with Vancouver Whitecaps entitles him to $100,000 each year. Didier Drogba is one of the MLS's newest big names and is earning $1.67m annually at Montreal Impact. Liam Ridgewell, formerly a success in the Premier League with Aston Villa, Birmingham City and West Bromwich, is Portland Timbers' highest earning player. The 31-year-old defender takes home $1m per year. Staying in the Pacific north-west, Clint Dempsey is paid $3.9m by Seattle Sounders, while ex-Inter Milan and Newcastle star Obafemi Martins earns $2.4m. At Colarado Rapids, former Reading, Wolves and Crystal Palace forward Kevin Doyle is earning handsomely from a $1.13m annual contract, while ex-Wigan and Hull defender Maynor Figueroa is on $99,996. Other notable names include Tranquillo Barnetta, who is on $624,000 at Philadelphia Union after his recent exit from Schalke, and Charlie Davies, once the bright new hope of American soccer, now taking home just $78,750 at New England Revolution. His team-mate, Jermaine Jones, mostly known for a seven year spell at Schalke, is raking in a whopping $2.8m. Giles Barnes, formerly a young star with huge potential at Derby County, earns $247,500 at Houston Dynamo, while former Manchester City and Rangers winger DaMarcus Beasley earns $750,000 at the Texan franchise. Here's a look at the top 10 earners across the MLS: 10. Clint Dempsey (Seattle Sounders) - $3,913,008 9. Giovani dos Santos (LA Galaxy) - $4,000,000 8. Robbie Keane (LA Galaxy) - $4,500,000 7. Jozy Altidore (Toronto FC) - $4,750,000 6. Sebastian Giovinco (Toronto FC) - $5,600,000 5. David Villa (New York City FC) - $5,610,000 =3. Michael Bradley (Toronto FC) - $6,000,000 =3. Frank Lampard (New York City FC) - $6,000,000 2. Steven Gerrard (LA Galaxy) - $6,200,004 1. Kaka (Orlando City) - $6,660,000 Full list of all MLS players - https://www.mlsplayers.org/images/September 15 2015 Salary Information - By Club.pdf http://www.90min.com/posts/2581726-...&utm_medium=fan_pages&utm_source=facebook.com
He is getting that bc he is the striker (not for long with Wood and Morris almost ready) for the US national team. You know what is crazier than them getting paid that kind of cash? The fact that not one of the MLS teams losses money. They all are required to make a profit. They were offering Hernandez $10,000,000 a year to play here.
Well we know how it all turned out before in the era of Pele and Beckenbauer when clubs could spend what they liked. His (Bradley Wright-Phillips) brother, Shaun, recently joined him and is on just $116,000 (a year). He should think about getting another agent.
Well we do things slightly different here. We do not do Category A, B, C etc games. Every game is the same price but seats have really different prices depending on where you sit (which section which row) the supporters section normally gets a discount. Like for my hockey team there used to be $5 tickets (only about 30 seats) Season tickets are for everywhere. The average ticket price in the mls is currently $46.22 which is £30.31. I am sure though there are probably $10 seats at most stadiums.
Yea, its a good rule. It also follows all our other sports leagues as no one is allowed to lose money in the MLB, NFL etc. I think he just really wanted to play with his brother from what they said on the news.
Then you lose your team and they move it to a new city. It happens once in a while. They pay attention though to projections and thats why some teams are never contenders because they do not have the income to pay for class players. I should say though that every team has every game on TV here so they get a decent amount from TV revenue etc as well.
Ellewoods, am I right in saying that it was the womens football that really got the game recognition in the USA? The men's side of things always seemed to struggle but then the USA's womens team did very well and all of a sudden European stars of yesteryear were going over to the MLS. Ok go back a few years to the likes of Best, Marsh, Beckenbauer, Muller, Pele and such going over to the States, I don't think the appearance of those fading megastars did much to establish the game of soccer but the USA Womens team certainly seems to have done.
He has been injured this season but he still has 10 goals in 20 appearances with lots of those coming off the bench (due to his injury). I think the last game I watched they said he had 8 goals in 12 starts. Thats a pretty good record.
Na it was the US hosting the world cup in 1994 that made the popularity skyrocket here. Women always played the sport (it was considered a female sport and most high schools didnt even have mens teams) and its not like anyone watches the women play outside of the womens world cup. The women won in 1991 but I dont think anyone payed the least amount of attention that year. I cant even remember watching that womens world cup it was their win in 1999 that was the big one but by then anyone who was living here would have noticed that the sport was already taking off. It was really the men hosting and playing well in 1994 that made it popular but in particular it was Beckham that really got people watching. Without Beckham it probably would have taken an extra 20 years to get where we are today. Where we are of course is League 1 standard with a few Championship quality teams with a few star players who are squad PL quality but are in their last couple years of playing.
