Designated Player Rule
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The Designated Player Rule, also known as the Beckham Rule or Beckham Exception, was adopted as part of the salary cap regulations of Major League Soccer for the 2007 season. The rule allows each MLS franchise to sign one player that would be considered outside of the teams' salary cap, allowing U.S. and Canadian teams to compete for star players in the international soccer market.
The salary cap was estimated to be around US$1.9 million in 2006[1], was $2.1 million in 2007 and is expected to be raised to $2.3 million for the 2008 season.[2]
Under the rule:
- For each designated player, $400,000 of his salary is charged to the salary cap, with any remaining salary toward the player being imposed on the individual owner, and not counted against the cap.
- Prior to the 2007 season, there were four players whose salary exceeded $400,000. These players include Landon Donovan, Carlos Ruiz and Eddie Johnson. According to the rule, they were grandfathered in for the 2007 season. The exemption was extended to include the 2008 season before the league will look at either requiring the players contracts to be renegotiated or that they be considered a designated player. Prior to the start of the 2008 MLS season, Johnson moved to Fulham of the EPL[1].
- There will initially be one designated player slot available to each team in the league. A team can trade their designated player slot; teams are allowed a maximum of two slots.
- Only $325,000 of a team's second designated player will count against the salary cap.
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[edit] Background
The rule will apply for three years, until the end of the 2009 MLS season, when its future will be reviewed.
It is informally named after football star David Beckham, in anticipation of MLS teams signing lucrative deals with internationally recognized players of Beckham's calibre.[3] As it turned out, Beckham was indeed the first player to be signed under this rule, signing a lucrative contract with the Los Angeles Galaxy for up to $50 million in direct salary for five years, with a base salary of $6.5 million per year.[4]
Due to trade deals, New York Red Bulls and D.C. United are the only clubs to possess two designated player slots.
[edit] Current Designated Players
Juan Pablo Ángel, New York Red Bulls
David Beckham, Los Angeles Galaxy
Cuauhtémoc Blanco, Chicago Fire
Luciano Emilio, D.C. United
Marcelo Gallardo, D.C. United- Claudio Lopez, Kansas City Wizards
Claudio Reyna, New York Red Bulls
[edit] Past Designated Players
[edit] Designated Player Slot Trades & Deals
- Chivas USA traded their slot in 2007 to New York Red Bulls for Amado Guevara.
- Colorado Rapids traded their slot in 2008 to D.C. United for Christian Gómez for a two year period -- this is an unconfirmed rumor.
[edit] See also
[edit] References
- ^ Goff, Steven. "Palencia Has Richest MLS Salary", Washington Post, 2006-04-26. Retrieved on 2007-12-01.
- ^ Mickle, Tripp. "Debate highlights MLS salary cap split", Sports Business Journal, 2007-11-26. Retrieved on 2007-12-01.
- ^ Lansley, Pete. "Becks could be the next American idol", The Telegraph, 2007-04-13. Retrieved on 2007-12-01.
- ^ "Beckham hopes to make US history", BBC. Retrieved on 2007-12-01.
