It didn’t gain much attention, but Major League Soccer’s board of governors held their usual meetings around MLS Cup. Nothing substantive in an immediate-news way apparently rose from the talks, which marked a contrast to the last two similar set of talks.
(In 2010, owners dropped a whopper by unexpectedly adding two playoff sides. And last year, owners adopted the new format that awarded host rights to the MLS Cup finalist of better record, another biggie.)
But there was a “start” to something semi-significant, at least. The deciders of Major League Soccer began foraging for intelligent ways to add more marquee men and to generally add a little more salary cap operating space.
This is significant because the salary cap’s incremental increases have already been negotiated within the most recent Collective Bargaining Agreement. So, essentially, the owners are saying here, “We don’t have to spend more money on salary … but let’s find a way to do it, anyway.”
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How would it work? That’s what they were throwing around the table in Los Angeles, according to one person familiar with the discussions. How to add more DPs was a major element of the talks. That does not necessarily mean adding a fourth potential DP per team; more likely it’s about how to get more teams into the DP game, probably through additional mid-level types.
For instance, rather than adding the next Robbie Keane or Thierry Henry, they’d like to add more Fredy Monteros or David Ferreiras. Those are talented fellows who cannot check the box on “household name,” but who surely elevate the overall standard of play and tend to become regional fan favs.
Or, can salary be goosed to help keep more of the home-grown up-and-comers, guys like Roger Espinoza, Austin Berry or Matt Besler (pictured). The idea, of course, is assisting clubs who want to keep these guys from being Euro-plucked.
Either way, consider this a “heads up,” because an unexpected little bump in clubs’ collective salary structure may be on the way.