While the debate rages on regarding the most valuable foreign import in Major League Soccer, there is no question which player pulls down the highest salary.
Galaxy superstar David Beckham earns a guaranteed $6.5 million per year. Cuauhtemoc Blanco, who has had more of an on-the-field impact than his English counterpart, is the league's second-highest paid player, with an annual salary of $2.67 million.
The high-profile players' salaries were revealed last week when the MLS Players Union released salaries for the entire league.
While the league does feature millionaires, -- Beckham and Blanco are two of five players who earn more than seven figures -- the vast majority of players earn minimal salaries.
The league's minimum salary for senior roster players is $33,000. The salary for developmental players, meanwhile, is a paltry minimum of $12,900 and can range up to $17,700.
More than 40 senior roster players, including the Galaxy's Troy Roberts and Mike Randolph as well as Chivas USA's Lawson Vaughn, earn the minimum, while about 70 players earn less than $20,000 per season.
Despite the millions of dollars pouring into the league in the form of expansion clubs, the economic upswing likely won't trickle down to the players anytime soon.
The Collective Bargaining Agreement between the league and the union runs through January 2010. While the league seems healthy, the past cannot simply slip into oblivion.
"The league is doing better, but don't forget that there has been massive amounts of money invested in this league to get to this point," MLS commissioner Don Garber said. "One good year does not a future make. We've got to ensure that we've got a good year this year and ensure that some of the teams we have that have struggled at the gate are able to pick it up."
After Beckham, the highest-paid Galaxy players are Landon Donovan ($900,000), Carlos Ruiz ($460,000) and Chris Klein ($197,250). Chivas USA's highest-paid players are Ante Razov ($258,750), Raphael Wicky ($210,000) and Jesse Marsch ($159,375).
Beckham and Blanco were brought in under the Designated Player Rule, which allows clubs to bring in one player whose salary does not count against the salary cap. Interestingly, players whose salaries exceeded the league maximum of $415,000 prior to 2007 were grandfathered in and do not require a DP slot, and the only two players in the league who currently fall under that category are the Galaxy's Donovan and Ruiz.
Still, Garber admitted the league's salaries must increase in order for MLS to remain competitive with second-tier European leagues that attract MLS talent and draw Americans away from playing at home.
In the offseason, several American players walked away on free transfers; essentially leaving as free agents in transactions that did not require a transfer fee. The Galaxy's Clint Mathis, whom the club acquired after the 2007 season, as well as New England's Pat Noonan and Houston's Nate Jaqua were among the Americans who walked away from MLS with no money heading back to the league.
"It's always a challenge for us to keep our American players," Garber said. "The only way that's going to happen is if we can raise our revenues and can afford to pay our players what they are getting overseas -- not necessarily what they are worth but what the market is overseas."
Garber said one way to entice players to stay stateside is to boost the level of play. Foreign acquisitions, even those players who did not come in under the DP rule, are helping progress the league on that front. Chivas USA's Maykel Galindo, D. C. United forward Luciano Emilio and FC Dallas midfielder Juan Toja are among the group of players league officials point toward as success stories from abroad.
"You are seeing the international player, primarily from Latin America, raising the quality of play and providing a better environment for our young American players," Garber said, "and hopefully creating a league they'll want to continue to play in."
