Soccer is quickly becoming a huge household sport in the USA and it could eventually rival the likes of basketball, football, hockey and baseball. With foreign players coming over to play in the MLS it is expanding greatly.
However, even with the World Cup coming to North America in 2026, many people are unaware of how much the average MLS player makes in the league. With talented young Americans still playing the MLS rather than moving to better prospects in Europe, the MLS is an important place for the progression of players who want to play for the USNMT.
History of the MLS
The MLS is the top league for professional soccer teams and they compete each year to win the MLS Cup. With 28 teams, 25 from USA and 3 from Canada, competing throughout the season, the league then splits into the play offs much like other American sports.
Due to popularity, the league are considering adding another team to the MLS in 2023, therefore, promoting the sport even more.
Since 1993, the creation of the MLS, there have been several winners and big clubs dominating the sport. Clubs such as LA Galaxy, DC United, Houston Dynamo and Seattle Sounders are some of the household names already.
How much does a US soccer player make?
Some might not be on the likes of other players, and look to trading forex sites to make more money, but the wage is nothing to be sniffed at to play soccer every single day with thousands of fans watching you week in and week out.
The average wage of a player in the MLS is $312,470 a year according to the last released to the last figures. However, this will not apply to every club.
The bigger spenders in the league such as LA Galaxy are spending on average $694,000 on their players and Real Salt Lake are only spending $308,000.
The highest-paid American player in the league is Jozy Altidore of the New England Revolution who earns $4.26 million a year. However, that is significantly lower than USNMT star boy Christian Pulisic of Chelsea who earns $7.5 million a year.
How much does a foreign player make?
The wages that foreign players make is significantly higher than US players still playing in the MLS, no matter how successful they are in the USNMT.
From famous names such as David Beckham to Zlatan Ibrahimovic, the league has hosted many a big name who brought in a big wage for that club.
Currently, the top three names in the league in terms of wages are all foreign players who have had successful careers in Europe already. The top three players are Lorenzo Insigne, Xherdan Shaqiri and Javier Hernandez. All three arrived in the MLS with big expectations so that means they need to have big wages.
Insigne is currently on a guaranteed wage of $15 million. Whereas Shaqiri is on $8.15 million, which is $2 million more than LA Galaxy striker Javier Hernandez.
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