Debuting in 1996 with just 10 teams, MLS is a relatively young professional league. Having grown to 23 teams since then, it has become increasingly relevant in the consciousness of the North American sports fan.
And the money has grown with it.
MLS welcomed two new franchises to the league last season, and added another expansion team this year. Teams averaged 22,106 fans per game last season, setting a new league record.
With increased revenue comes increased costs, as teams try to assemble the best rosters possible to compete for the MLS Cup.
On Thursday, the MLSPA released the salaries of every player in the league. A pair of Toronto FC stars lead the way, as Sebastian Giovinco will make more than $7 million this season, while teammate Michael Bradley will take home $6.5 million.
Montreal has the seventh-highest payroll in MLS, but spend less than half of what Toronto FC dishes out.
Team | Base salary | Guaranteed compensation |
1. Toronto FC | $23,480,305 | $26,167,499 |
2. Los Angeles Galaxy | $14,799,180 | $17,502,008 |
3. New York City FC | $13,249,558 | $14,147,633 |
4. Chicago Fire | $13,165,346 | $13,824,204 |
5. Los Angeles FC | $11,254,869 | $13,432,053 |
6. Portland Timbers | $11,209,418 | $12,516,335 |
7. Montreal Impact | $7,230,911 | $11,888,541 |
8. Seattle Sounders | $9,767,458 | $11,376,125 |
9. Atlanta United | $10,369,120 | $11,306,330 |
10. Colorado Rapids | $9,981,477 | $11,001,331 |
11. FC Dallas | $8,239,754 | $9,333,819 |
12. Sporting Kansas City | $8,825,490 | $9,176,166 |
13. Orlando City | $8,230,668 | $8,981,658 |
14. Real Salt Lake | $8,228,528 | $8,975,666 |
15. Philadelphia Union | $8,492,604 | $8,915,988 |
16. Vancouver Whitecaps | $7,531,016 | $8,233,012 |
17. Minnesota United | $7,561,894 | $8,152,683 |
18. San Jose Earthquakes | $7,116,235 | $7,787,253 |
19. New York Red Bulls | $7,079,490 | $7,689,314 |
20. Columbus Crew | $6,632,083 | $6,971,083 |
21. New England Revolution | $6,139,674 | $6,818,556 |
22. D.C. United | $6,325,797 | $6,744,420 |
23. Houston Dynamo | $5,267,338 | $5,673,472 |
Montreal’s highest-paid player is Ignacio Piatti, and by a fair margin. Topping $4 million, he’s not only the team’s only millionaire, he makes more than five times as much money as any other player on the team.
Here’s how much every Impact player will make in 2018, sorted by total compensation:
Name | Position | Base Salary |
Total Compensation
|
Ignacio Piatti | M | $500,000 | $4,713,333 |
Alejandro Silva | M | $800,040 | $800,040 |
Saphir Taider | M | $800,000 | $800,000 |
Matteo Mancosu | F | $700,000 | $719,542 |
Rod Fanni | D | $690,000 | $710,000 |
Rudy Camacho | D | $650,000 | $699,153 |
Zakaria Diallo | D | $299,250 | $343,250 |
Dom Oduro | F | $330,000 | $330,000 |
Marco Donadel | M | $120,000 | $305,328 |
Victor Cabrera | D | $270,000 | $270,000 |
Jukka Raitala | D | $205,004 | $241,671 |
Jeisson Vargas | M | $200,000 | $200,000 |
Michael Petrasso | D-M | $155,004 | $168,129 |
Evan Bush | GK | $157,925 | $157,925 |
Anthony Jackson-Hamel | F | $140,000 | $155,000 |
Chris Duvall | D | $150,000 | $150,000 |
Samuel Piette | M | $120,000 | $129,234 |
Shamit Shome | M | $100,000 | $128,500 |
Clement Diop | GK | $90,000 | $97,290 |
Daniel Lovitz | M | $86,625 | $86,625 |
Maxime Crepeau | GK | $80,000 | $84,083 |
Nick DePuy | F | $68,254 | $75,754 |
Michael Salazar | F | $67,500 | $67,500 |
David Choiniere | M | $67,500 | $67,500 |
Thomas Meilleur-Giguere | D | $54,500 | $57,625 |
Louis Beland-Goyette | M | $54,500 | $55,750 |
Kyle Fisher | D | $55,654 | $55,654 |
Raheem Edwards | F | $55,654 | $55,654 |
James Pantemis | GK | $54,500 | $55,000 |
Ken Krolicki | M | $54,500 | $54,500 |
Jason Beaulieu | GK | $54,500 | $54,500 |
Note: “Total compensation” refers to the player’s base salary plus all signing and guaranteed bonuses annualized over the term of the player’s contract, including option years.
Below is the list of 46 players in MLS making at least $1 million in total compensation:
Name | Team | Position | Base Salary | Total Compensation |
Sebastian Giovinco | Toronto FC | F | $5,600,000 | $7,115,556 |
Michael Bradley | Toronto FC | M | $6,000,000 | $6,500,000 |
Carlos Vela | LAFC | F | $4,500,000 | $6,292,500 |
Bastian Schweinsteiger | Chicago Fire | M | $6,100,000 | $6,100,000 |
Giovani dos Santos | LA Galaxy | F | $4,250,000 | $6,000,000 |
David Villa | New York City FC | F | $5,610,000 | $5,610,000 |
Jozy Altidore | Toronto FC | F | $5,000,000 | $5,000,000 |
Ignacio Piatti | Montreal Impact | M | $500,000 | $4,713,333 |
Tim Howard | Colorado Rapids | GK | $2,000,000 | $2,475,000 |
Diego Valeri | Portland Timbers | M | $2,320,000 | $2,380,000 |
Nicolas Lodeiro | Seattle Sounders FC | M | $1,800,000 | $2,302,500 |
Miguel Almiron | Atlanta United | M | $1,912,500 | $2,297,000 |
Yura Movsisyan | Major League Soccer L.L.C | F | $1,850,000 | $2,073,750 |
Maxi Moralez | New York City FC | M | $2,000,000 | $2,000,000 |
Jonathan dos Santos | LA Galaxy | M | $2,000,000 | $2,000,000 |
Fanendo Adi | Portland Timbers | F | $1,275,000 | $1,933,333 |
Nemanja Nikolic | Chicago Fire | F | $1,700,000 | $1,906,333 |
Romain Alessandrini | LA Galaxy | M | $1,539,996 | $1,869,996 |
Borek Dockal | Philadelphia Union | M | $1,714,286 | $1,714,286 |
Shkelzen Gashi | Colorado Rapids | F | $1,575,000 | $1,668,750 |
Clint Dempsey | Seattle Sounders FC | F | $1,100,000 | $1,650,000 |
Darwin Quintero | Minnesota United | F | $1,650,000 | $1,650,000 |
Felipe Gutierrez | Sporting Kansas City | M | $1,600,000 | $1,650,000 |
Bradley Wright-Phillips | New York Red Bulls | F | $1,500,000 | $1,635,000 |
Victor Vazquez | Toronto FC | M | $1,365,000 | $1,500,000 |
Zlatan Ibrahimovic | LA Galaxy | F | $1,500,000 | $1,500,000 |
Valeri “Vako” Qazaishvili | San Jose Earthquakes | M | $1,325,004 | $1,454,042 |
Ezequiel Barco | Atlanta United | M | $1,425,000 | $1,425,000 |
Josef Martinez | Atlanta United | F | $1,270,008 | $1,387,318 |
Dom Dwyer | Orlando City SC | F | $1,200,000 | $1,383,333 |
Sebastian Blanco | Portland Timbers | M | $1,300,008 | $1,375,008 |
Ager Aketxe Barrutia | Toronto FC | M | $1,190,000 | $1,295,000 |
Aleksandar Katai | Chicago Fire | M | $1,140,000 | $1,276,333 |
Alejandro Bedoya | Philadelphia Union | M | $1,200,000 | $1,266,250 |
David Accam | Philadelphia Union | F-M | $1,250,000 | $1,250,000 |
Alfredo Ortuno | Real Salt Lake | F | $990,000 | $1,162,500 |
Osvaldo Alonso | Seattle Sounders FC | M | $1,100,000 | $1,141,667 |
Sacha Kljestan | Orlando City SC | M | $1,025,000 | $1,100,000 |
Federico Higuain | Columbus Crew | M | $1,100,000 | $1,100,000 |
Victor Rodriguez | Seattle Sounders FC | M | $1,000,000 | $1,087,500 |
Diego Rossi | LAFC | F | $1,000,000 | $1,052,000 |
Lucas Melano | Portland Timbers | F | $830,000 | $1,050,000 |
Damir Kreilach | Real Salt Lake | M | $900,000 | $1,013,333 |
Krisztian Nemeth | New England Revolution | F | $900,000 | $1,007,667 |
Jorgen Skjelvik | LA Galaxy | D | $900,000 | $1,000,000 |
Kei Kamara | Vancouver Whitecaps | F | $1,000,000 | $1,000,000 |