MLS CBA

Well before I began following MLS, I knew of the stigma that follows MLS around the world. (Insert every Euro-Snob comment about retirement league, shitty players, and other all ignorant remarks here). Ever since the 2014 World Cup, I have been bleeding Philadelphia Union Blue & Gold, and I would have it no other way. At the moment, the Union might be the most exciting sports team in the Philadelphia sports market. Think about, Flyers are mediocre(I'm hoping they make the playoffs), Phillies are tanking but refuse to acknowledge it, Sixers are tanking and they embrace it, and the Eagles are operating within the CIA-like confines Chip Kelly's office. The season is right around the corner, and the current management along with the efforts of John Hackworth have finally sorted through the mess of Pthe aftermath of Peter Nowak. But, there is big IF to me being able to use my tickets for the Union home opener, and that is the an agreement of a new CBA.

From what I have gathered so far, fans usually side with owners and league officials when it comes to the CBA and possible strikes. However, MLS fans are definitely siding with the Players Union for this CBA. Now before I argue my point, let me play devil's advocate. The owners of MLS have endured quite a lot in the league's 20 year history ranging from near bankruptcy to dissolving of the league. In addition, they pay for the constant upkeep of the team, academy, and coaches and a whole bunch of other stuff, so asking them to splurge on players is not very realistic.

Now, I will go take a shower and prove to you why everything I said in the last two sentences of the previous paragraph, to quote Jeremy Clarkson "is all horrible rubbish." Since the last CBA, the disparity between the DP(Designated Players - players whose salary is only partially accounted for on the salary cap) players and the non-DP players has increased drastically. The greatest example of this is the difference between the average salary of a player, which is about $250k, and the median salary salary of a player, which is about $90k, The vast difference between the two number states the salary numbers are very top heavy. The minimum annual salary for an MLS player is $35k, which is only $12k higher than the poverty line. That means that they make just less than $3,000 per month. In some of the more expensive markets such as NYC, LA, Philadelphia, Chicago, etc. rent itself can be about $1,000. This is my biggest point of argument for the new CBA. The players need to be compensated well for their efforts. I know that the MLS is no the NFL where the minimum salary is $400k, but an increase in the minimum wage will increase the quality on the field, the quality of life of the players, and will draw more kids to choose soccer should the trend continue. I also believe the salary cap needs to be raised, this again will help with the overall growth of the league in general; also, when MLS clubs compete in the CONCACAF Champions League, it is very hard to compete with teams from Central America that don't face such monetary challenges.

I'm not going to talk much about free agency because I don't know how it would work, I do support it though. I realize that the players should get an option to play where they want, atleast to some extent like players in all other leagues do. I do want to talk about how hypocritical the league is about spending money. On one side, it brings multi-million dollar DPs such as Giovinco, Gerrard, Lampard, Villa, and Kaka, but when it comes to paying the majority of the players a proper wage, they cry poor. That is an argument that is no longer valid with the new TV deals($75 million/year with ESPN, Fox Sports, and UniMas in the US & SkySports in the UK), $10 million/year deal with Heineken, and expansion fees(the one-time payment that each team must make to MLS to join the league) are exceeding $100 million. Also, without going too much into it, pure singe entity is stupid.