Major League Soccer

The money in Major League Soccer, a section for each part of this site. In 2026 its players were paid $631M in all. By Forbes's 2026 list its average club was worth $731M. Its national TV deals paid $200M in 2026. Everything about its games and players is at soccerstats.us.

Pay

League payroll is the pay of every player on record that season. Team payroll is the pay of the players listed with a club: the average splits it evenly across the clubs that have a squad on record, and the median is the club in the middle. The salary budget is what the rules let one club count against its cap; clubs spend above it on Designated Players and with allocation money. The record names no clubs before 2007, so team payroll starts there. Player pay is over every player on record; the median is the player in the middle, and the gap below the average is how far a few large salaries pull it up. Each panel has its own scale. Seasons outside the unbroken run of 2004–2026 are in the table only. The minimum salary is the least the rules let a senior player be paid. Hover or focus a point for its figure.

season	players	clubs	total pay	average team payroll	median team payroll	average salary	median salary	highest paid	pay
2026	916	30	$630,955,755	$20,824,090	$20,403,176	$688,816	$352,104	Lionel Messi	$28,333,333
2025	944	30	$597,372,429	$19,678,343	$17,927,990	$632,810	$338,347	Lionel Messi	$20,446,667
2024	910	29	$542,566,145	$18,408,439	$16,680,315	$596,227	$308,375	Lionel Messi	$20,446,667
2023	924	29	$501,923,704	$17,128,557	$14,979,335	$543,207	$282,125	Lionel Messi	$20,446,667
2022	894	28	$460,167,441	$16,185,526	$15,329,416	$514,729	$248,688	Lorenzo Insigne	$14,000,000
2021	871	27	$364,119,961	$13,383,942	$12,659,495	$418,048	$200,000	Carlos Vela	$6,300,000
2020	778	26	$315,909,978	$12,109,057	$12,292,902	$406,054	$200,000	Carlos Vela	$6,300,000
2019	714	24	$294,165,171	$12,017,560	$10,645,351	$411,996	$179,498	Zlatan Ibrahimović	$7,200,000
2018	694	23	$261,123,321	$11,127,186	$9,689,538	$376,258	$154,619	Sebastian Giovinco	$7,115,556
2017	654	22	$214,920,611	$9,756,800	$8,348,946	$328,625	$135,000	Kaká	$7,167,500
2016	586	20	$181,050,408	$8,995,664	$6,826,270	$308,960	$116,300	Kaká	$7,167,500
2015	574	20	$167,569,743	$8,348,399	$5,864,370	$291,933	$112,000	Kaká	$7,167,500
2014	572	19	$129,531,839	$6,390,238	$4,481,882	$226,454	$92,000	Kaká	$7,167,500
2013	576	19	$95,078,142	$4,988,389	$3,819,589	$165,066	$87,333	Clint Dempsey	$5,038,566
2012	554	19	$99,257,881	$5,211,539	$4,050,727	$179,166	$84,771	Thierry Henry	$5,600,000
2011	525	18	$85,079,476	$4,719,638	$3,483,785	$162,056	$79,764	David Beckham	$6,500,000
2010	408	16	$71,003,263	$4,430,204	$2,905,359	$174,028	$92,688	David Beckham	$6,500,000
2009	388	15	$51,878,050	$3,448,130	$2,778,004	$133,706	$76,044	David Beckham	$6,500,000
2008	410	14	$47,292,509	$3,359,736	$2,533,502	$115,348	$57,244	David Beckham	$6,500,000
2007	371	13	$42,223,660	$3,241,582	$2,434,147	$113,810	$50,400	David Beckham	$6,500,000
2006	321	—	$27,390,744	—	—	$85,329	$50,125	Francisco Palencia	$1,360,000
2005	314	—	$22,358,194	—	—	$71,204	$42,500	Landon Donovan	$900,000
2004	165	—	$14,630,492	—	—	$88,670	$55,000	Freddy Adu	$500,000
1996	46	—	$5,039,109	—	—	$109,546	$94,000	Jorge Campos	$175,000

Pay is guaranteed compensation where the source gives it and base salary where it does not. Total pay sums it across every player on record that season. Team payroll is the pay of the players listed with a club: the average splits it evenly across the clubs, and the median is the club in the middle. A club with fewer than eleven players on record is an expansion side signing ahead of its first season, and is left out. Average and median salary are over every player on record that season; where the record is a partial list (1996's 46 players, 2004's 165), they describe the players listed, not the league.

The salary budget and the rest of the roster rules, season by season.

Coaches

The longest-serving head coach in the league is Brian Schmetzer, at Seattle Sounders since Nov 2, 2016. In 2025, 20 head coaches left their clubs. Every club's coaches, how long they lasted and what the press reported they were paid.

Transfers

The biggest fee paid by one of its clubs is $26.5M, for Son Heung-Min (2025); the biggest received is $27M, for Miguel Almiron (2019). The biggest fees of 2026:

player	from	to	move	fee	up to	reported	sources
Josh Sargent	Norwich City	Toronto FC	in	$22M	$27M	Feb 27, 2026	1
André Luiz	Olympiacos	Sporting Kansas City	in	$18M	—	Aug 18, 2026	1
Breel Embolo	Rennes	Atlanta United	in	$18M	—	Aug 24, 2026	1
Lucas Herrington	Colorado Rapids	Hull City	out	$17M	$23M	Aug 12, 2026	1
Rodrigo De Paul	Atlético Madrid	Inter Miami	in	$17M	—	May 28, 2026	1
Germán Berterame	CF Monterrey	Inter Miami	in	$15M	—	Jan 30, 2026	1
Zavier Gozo	Real Salt Lake	Crystal Palace	out	$15M	—	Aug 18, 2026	1
Kevin Kelsy	Portland Timbers	Rangers	out	$13M	—	Sep 3, 2026	1

Every transfer on record, with a chart and filters.

Value & ownership

Click or tap a mark to see what it is.

Average club value by year, with expansion fees and sales, on a logarithmic scale: each gridline step is a doubling or more. A line joins only consecutive years, so a year with no list is a gap.

year	Forbes, average club	Sportico, average club
2026	$731M	$767M
2025	$690M	$721M
2024	$658M	$678M
2023	$579M	—
2022	—	$582M
2021	—	$550M
2019	$312M	—
2018	$240M	—
2017	$223M	—
2016	$185M	—
2015	$157M	—
2013	$103M	—
2008	$37M	—

Every club on each list is on the valuations page, and every fee, sale and owner on the ownership page.

Revenue

Click or tap a bar to see the deals in it.

Major League Soccer national TV money by season: the yearly figures of every national deal covering the season, reported or worked out from a total. A dash marks a season whose deals reported no figure; an empty season had no deal on record. Where only some of a season's deals reported a figure, the bar counts those, so it is a floor.

National TV

broadcaster	rights	seasons	a year	in all	note	sources
ABC and ESPN	English-language TV	1996–1998	$0	—	signed in 1994 before the league had a team, no rights fee, the networks and the league split the advertising revenue	1 2
ABC, ESPN and Univision	English- and Spanish-language TV	1999–2006	—	—	renewals of the first deals, terms not reported	1
ESPN and ABC	English-language TV	2007–2014	$8,000,000	$64,000,000	eight years, the league's first rights fee	1
Univision	Spanish-language TV	2007–2014	$10,000,000	$80,000,000	sold by Soccer United Marketing together with U.S. national team and other matches, so not all of it is for MLS	1
Fox Soccer Channel	English-language cable TV	2011	$7,000,000	$7,000,000	a one-year extension, reported at $6.25M to $7M	1 2
NBC Sports	English-language TV	2012–2014	$10,000,000	$30,000,000	three years, reported at $10M to $12M a year, with U.S. national team matches	1 2
ESPN and Fox	English-language TV	2015–2022	$75,000,000	$600,000,000	eight years, the two networks combined per Sports Business Daily, shared with U.S. Soccer, whose national team rights were in the package	1 2
Univision	Spanish-language TV	2015–2022	$15,000,000	$120,000,000	eight years per Sports Business Daily, with national team rights	1
Apple	every match worldwide, streaming	2023–2025	$250,000,000	$2,500,000,000	signed for ten years, 2023 to 2032, at a minimum of $2.5B, payments tiered to rise over the term, plus a share of subscriptions	1 2
Fox	English-language TV	2023–2026	—	—	four years, a share of matches alongside Apple, terms not announced	1
TelevisaUnivision	Spanish-language TV, Leagues Cup	2023–2026	—	—	four years, terms not announced	1
TSN and RDS	Canadian TV	2023–2026	—	—	four years, terms not announced	1
Apple	every match worldwide, streaming	2026	$200,000,000	$200,000,000	the deal as amended in 2025 to end in mid-2029, about $50M more than the original terms would have paid by then	1
Apple	every match worldwide, streaming	2027–2029	$219,166,667	$657,500,000	the amended deal's last three payments, $107.5M for the short 2027 season and $275M for each of 2027-28 and 2028-29 as the league moves to a fall-to-spring calendar	1

League sponsors

sponsor	named	seasons	a year	in all	note	sources
Adidas	official athletic sponsor and kit supplier	2005–2014	$15,000,000	$150,000,000	ten years	1
Adidas	official athletic sponsor and kit supplier	2011–2018	$25,000,000	$200,000,000	a 2010 renewal raising the annual payment from $15M to $25M	1
Adidas	official athletic sponsor and kit supplier	2023–2028	$138,333,333	$830,000,000	six years	1

Figures are as reported; one in grey italics is worked out from the other figure and the deal's length. Clubs' own deals are on the sponsorships and TV rights pages.