MLS parity rules have Galaxy, LaFC paying a high price to succeed

Will Kuntz knew something that few others did when the MLS Cup final launched in December: the Galaxy The Kuntz team had so carefully rebuilt that the one who won the title of the League that day, would begin to be dismantled shortly after the match.

“We knew well in advance that the change was coming,” said Kuntz, second -year managing director of the galaxy. “These are mathematics, not art in this regard. And mathematics were undeniable. “

The calculation said that the bonuses of players from the end of the MLS Cup final would prevent Kuntz from keeping its list under the salary ceiling of $ 5.95 million. Mathematics said that complicated league contract rules were about to ensure that the galaxy takes another $ 1 million against this ceiling when Gabriel Pec And Dejan Jovljic were born from their specific age contracts.

Consequently, the Galaxy will open its defending defense on Sunday against San Diego FC Five key players are missing from their championship team, including Gastón Brugman, the most precious player in the MLS Cup and Jveljic, their top scorer.

And the galaxy is not the only team to have managed to make the punishment as well as to reward. LaftcWho begins his eighth season on Saturday against Minnesota United, has only three players from his winning team in the MLS Cup in 2022. In the past three months, he had to separate 15 players, including Carlos Velathe leader of the franchise in objectives, assists and appearances; Mateusz BoguszHe's the second top scorer last year; And Eduard Atuesta, Ilie Sánchez and Jesús Murillo, who all rank in the first eight matches played for Lafc.

“This is a challenge,” said John Thorrington, co -president and managing director of Lafc, about constant unsubscribe. “This does not surprise us because we understand the rules, we know the parameters and our model is such that we will look for each year.

“And there are consequences for this.”

Christina Labrie, senior vice-president of relations with MLS players, says that the rules are fair because they are the same for the 30 teams. Salaries for the first 20 players on the list must adapt to a ceiling of $ 5.95 million, with wages for up to three designated players and up to three players from the U22 initiative who only partially count against this ceiling. Each team also receives a minimum of $ 2.93 million in allocation money to buy the milestone of other players.

These rules are supposed to induce parity by controlling wages, preventing deep places from passing the rest of the league to go bankrupt. But that has made it difficult for ambitious clubs such as Lafc, the most victorious team of the MLS since entering the League in 2018, due to the pressure that success exerts on the salary ceiling by bonuses and other expenses which more strongly land the winning teams.

“In some cases, the question is not the rules of alignment, but the CBA negotiated with the players,” said Steven A. Bank, business law professor of Paul Hastings at the UCLA and observer close to football finances. “There are bonuses that increase each year and there are team bonus pools. The players could have been able to hold for higher and more stable wages and less salary based on bonuses, but they have agreed with an approach that exerts pressure on salary budgets.

“Stability has not really been a goal of players for some time.”

And some of these players suffered accordingly. Galaxy Captain Maya YoshidaWho led the league in minutes last season, had to make a drop in wages to re-signate last month.

“Unfortunately, this is where MLS is,” said Yoshida. “Everyone knows that it should not happen.”

Jveljic, who signed a three-year contract designated with Sporting Kansas City after being exchanged by the Galaxy this month, was also surprised.

“I thought I was going to stay the most,” he told journalist Tom Bogart. “You know the rules of the MLS – I hope that one day it will change and this league will grow. I think it will happen, but I don't know when.”

Until it is, the successful teams will be forced to make difficult decisions each winter.

“When we won the title in 2016 in Seattle, we have literally had to submit options on contracts the next morning,” said Atlanta United Managers and Manager, Garth Lagerwey, who won two MLS cups as Director General of Sounders. “The match ended at 11 p.m. and 9 am the next morning, we cut the players of this winning team from the championship. It is as ruthless as possible. ”

But Lagerwey said the teams can see the budget crisis coming and sometimes pushing all their tokens in the middle of the table if they are lucky to win.

“We are still in these cycles,” he said. “We are both planning and often, your resources are maximized when you win or when you are competitive. This is how it is supposed to work, right?

“You methodically build the team over a few years, then you spend all your money this year when you try to win.”

The galaxy, which had not won a MLS cup for a decade, did that last season When they acquired a midfielder Marco Reus From Borussia Dortmund in August, signing it to a multi -year contract worth 1.216 million dollars in guaranteed compensation each season. And although Kuntz was rewarded by a championship, the money he spent for Reus was money that he did not have to spend for Yoshida and Jveljic.

“It's just reality,” said Kuntz, whose reconstruction was so wide that on Sunday, the galaxy will not launch a player who was with the team when Kuntz was hired 22 months ago. “We knew that when we write this team a year ago that it would be practically impossible to keep everyone.

“Winning is expensive.”

Kuntz therefore exchanged Brugman, Jveljic, Midfield Mark Delgado And the local defender Jalen Neal, did not re-sign the defender Martín Cáceres and reduced the salary of Yoshida. These six made more than $ 4.63 million combined last season.

In their place, the galaxy exchanged against striker Christian Ramírez and agreed to spend more than $ 5.5 million in transfer fees for defender Mathias Jorgensen, midfielder Elijah Wynder and the U22 signatures Lucas Sanabria and Matheus Nascimento, whose contracts are adapted to the cap. This has always left the team so tight against the salary budget that it had to buy its share of the $ 1.024 million due to the Sean Davis midfielder.

Kuntz could face another list remake next winter.

The high victory price has been particularly high for Lafc, the only MLS team to win three trophies in the last four seasons. However, Thorrington insists on pushing all his tokens at the center of the table every summer, only to tear things up every winter.

In 2022, he added Giorgio Chiellini, Gareth Bale, Denis Bouanga and Cristian Telo in mid-season and won a shield and a MLS supporters this fall. At the start of the following season, there were only two of the four left – and eight others had also left. In fact, there have been so many players who come and go to LAFC, the team has achieved more than 27 transactions per season on average over the past four years.

“Each year, you get more experience with her,” said Thorrington. “The constraints and the budget and the things, they are not the same each year. Almost as a requirement, you have to make a sale each year to keep any form of continuity. This is something that we have adopted in the LAFC.”

This winter, for example, without any place in the budget for increases or new contracts, Thorrington has not tried to re-signate Murillo, Sánchez or striker Kei Kamara, saving nearly $ 2 million. He also lost the Atuesta and Lewis O'Brien field circles – saving an additional $ 2.5 million – when their loans were exhausted, then he sold Bogusz, defender Omar Campos and winger Cristian Olivera for transfer fees that would have been more than $ 17 million.

This leaves Lafc without three of the four leaders last year in goals and assists and six of the 12 best external field players in terms of minutes played. The replacements include defender Artem Smolyakov and midfielder Igor Jesus, whose U22 initiative contracts are both of $ 200,000 against the ceiling.

“Of course, I would like to keep all of our good players,” said Thorrington. “But it's just not our reality.”

LAFC 2025 mls schedule

February: 22 – vs Minnesota, 1:30 p.m.
March: 1 – VS New York City, 7:30 p.m.; 8 – in Seattle, 1:30 p.m.; 15 – VS Austin, 12:30 p.m.; 22 – in Kansas City, 5:30 p.m.; 29 – In San Diego, 7:30 p.m.
April: 5 – in Houston, 5:30 p.m.; 12 – against San José, 7:30 p.m.; 19 – at Portland, 7 p.m.; 27 – vs Saint-Louis, 4 p.m.
May: 3 – vs Houston, 7:30 p.m.; 11 – in Vancouver, 4 p.m.; 14 – VS Seattle, 7:30 p.m.; 18 – at Galaxy, 6 p.m.; 24 – in Montreal, 4:30 p.m.; 28 – vs Kansas City, 7:30 p.m.; 31 – VS Colorado, 7:30 p.m.
June 13 – VS Toronto, 7:30 p.m.; 25 – in Salt Lake, 6:30 p.m.; 28 – Vs. Vancouver, 7:30 p.m.
July 5 – in Austin, 5:30 p.m.; 12 – vs. Dallas, 7:30 p.m.; 16 – at Minnesota, 5.30pm; 19 – VS Galaxy, 7:30 p.m.; 25 – VS Portland, 7:30 p.m.
August 9 – in Chicago, 5:30 p.m.; 16 – in New England, 4:30 p.m.; 23 – in Dallas, 5:30 p.m.; 31 – vs San Diego, TBA
September 13 – against San José at Levi's Stadium, 4:30 p.m.; 21 – vs Salt Lake, 6 p.m.; 27 – In St. Louis, 5.30 p.m.
October 5: – Vs. Atlanta, 7:30 p.m.; 18 – in Colorado, 6 p.m.

Galaxy 2025 mls schedule

February: 23 – Against San Diego, 4 p.m.
March 2: – at Vancouver, 2 p.m.; 9 – against St. Louis, 4 p.m.; 16 – in Portland, 1:30 p.m.; 22 – vs Minnesota, 1:30 p.m.; 29 – Vs. Orlando, 7:30 p.m.
April 5 – in Salt Lake, 1:30 p.m.; 12 – vs Houston, 7:30 p.m.; 19 – in Austin, 10:30 am; 27 – vs Portland, 6 p.m.
May: 4 – at Kansas City, 4 p.m.; 10 – The New York Red Bulls, 4:30 p.m.; 14 – in Philadelphia, 4:30 p.m.; 18 – vs lafc, 6 p.m.; 24 – in San Diego, 1:30 p.m.; 28 – against San José, 7 p.m.; 31 – against Salt Lake, 7 p.m.
June 14 – to St. Louis, 1:30 p.m.; 25 – in Colorado, 6:30 p.m.; 28 – vs San José at Stanford Stadium, 7:30 p.m.
July: 4 – against Vancouver, 7:30 p.m.; 12 – against DC United, 7:30 p.m.; 16 – vs. Austin, 7:30 p.m.; 19 – at Lafc, 7:30 p.m.; 25 – In Houston, 5.30 p.m.
August 10: against Seattle, 7 p.m.; 16 – in Miami, 4:30 pm,; 23 – VS Colorado, 7:30 p.m.; 30 – vs. Dallas, 7:30 p.m.
September 13 – in Seattle, 5:30 p.m.; 20 – against Cincinnati, 7:30 p.m.; 27 – vs Kansas City, 7:30 p.m.
October 4: – in Dallas, 1:30 p.m.; 18 – vs Minnesota, 6 p.m.

All Pacific Times