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.
TFC is the biggest spender in all of MLS, with a payroll topping $26 million. That’s more than $8 million more than the LA Galaxy, who rank second. Toronto spends more than double on their players than 18 of the other 22 clubs in the league.
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 |
While TFC has had a slow start to the 2018 MLS season, you have to say they’ve got what they paid for. The reigning MLS Cup champions were the class of the league in 2017 and nearly became the first Major League Soccer club to win the CONCACAF Champions League title this year as well.
Toronto has five players that make more than a million dollars, including Giovinco, Bradley, Jozy Altidore, Victor Vazquez, and Ager Aketxe Barrutia.
Here’s how much every Toronto FC player will make in 2018, sorted by total compensation:
Name | Position | Base Salary |
Total Compensation
|
Sebastian Giovinco | F | $5,600,000 | $7,115,556 |
Michael Bradley | M | $6,000,000 | $6,500,000 |
Jozy Altidore | F | $5,000,000 | $5,000,000 |
Victor Vazquez | M | $1,365,000 | $1,500,000 |
Ager Aketxe Barrutia | M | $1,190,000 | $1,295,000 |
Gregory Van Der Wiel | D | $800,000 | $835,000 |
Chris Mavinga | D | $500,000 | $563,333 |
Drew Moor | D | $350,004 | $350,004 |
Justin Morrow | D | $300,000 | $300,000 |
Auro | D | $200,004 | $272,504 |
Eriq Zavaleta | D | $225,000 | $263,558 |
Marco Delgado | M | $230,000 | $230,000 |
Clint Irwin | GK | $210,000 | $221,313 |
Jonathan Osorio | M | $201,351 | $209,825 |
Tosaint Ricketts | F | $190,008 | $203,175 |
Nicolas Hasler | D-M | $132,000 | $147,667 |
Ayo Akinola | F | $54,504 | $140,504 |
Nick Hagglund | D | $125,004 | $134,629 |
Ashtone Morgan | D | $120,000 | $121,500 |
Jay Chapman | M | $99,000 | $117,500 |
Alex Bono | GK | $82,000 | $102,200 |
Jordan Hamilton | F | $72,930 | $100,430 |
Ben Spencer | F | $67,500 | $72,800 |
Liam Fraser | M | $67,500 | $72,500 |
Caleb Patterson-Sewell | GK | $67,500 | $67,500 |
Jason Hernandez | D | $67,500 | $67,500 |
Mariano Mino | M | $54,500 | $54,500 |
Julian Dunn | D | $54,500 | $54,500 |
Aiden Daniels | M | $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 |