Major League Soccer (MLS) and the MLS Players Association (MLSPA) have agreed in principle to a new collective bargaining agreement (CBA) that will increase pay and improve working conditions, reports, www.sportspromedia.com/.
The five-year deal, which covers the 2020 to 2024 seasons of North American soccer's top flight, is subject to formal approval by the MLS board of governors and MLSPA members.
The new CBA will see MLS players receive a share of increased revenue from the league's next broadcast deal for the first time. Starting in 2023 and 2024, after MLS's current broadcast rights partnerships expire, 25 per cent of the net increase in media revenue that exceeds US$100 million or more will go to player salaries.
MLS will also increase investment in the salary budget, general allocation money (GAM) and performance bonuses for players, raising the annual spending allowance for each club from US$8.49 million in 2019 to US$11.64 million in 2024.
In addition, the minimum annual salary for senior players will increase each season from US$70,250 to US$109,200 by the end of the agreement.
Other benefits of the new CBA include an increase in charter flights, growing from eight to 16 per season, relaxed free agency rules and a new under-22 player initiative, allowing clubs to sign up to three youth prospects on a reduced charge to their salary budget.
Franchises will continue to have the right to sign up to three designated players, an initiative which allows teams to exceed the maximum budget charge in order to acquire stars such as Javier Hernández, who recently signed for the Los Angeles Galaxy.
However, MLS will have the right to limit the compensation for the third designated player to the maximum targeted allocation money (TAM) salary, unless the player is 23 or younger, in which case there will be no limit.
The TAM mechanism had been a sticking point in negotiations, but MLS has been able to retain it in the new CBA. Clubs were previously allowed US$1.2 million per season in TAM to acquire or retain players in a specific salary bracket. That money will now be converted to general allocation money (GAM), which can be applied across an entire squad.
