Peculiarities of MLS and why fans embrace its quirkiness

Major League Soccer is different. It has a format, number of teams, contract rules, and several other intricacies of the league that make it stand out from the rest of world soccer. Some of those differences are good, and they provide MLS methods of differentiating from the negatives of world football. Other parts of MLS make soccer in the United States overly frustrating to follow.

Regardless, MLS diehard fans embrace these pieces of the league that make Major League Soccer so different.

What makes Major League Soccer different?

Here are a few of the major differences MLS has against world soccer and its organization.

1. Teams trade players without consent

Player transfers are agreed between clubs, but in the rest of the world, before a transfer can be completed, the player has to agree personal terms with the new club. Hence, any player moving between clubs has the final say on the transfer. That is except in Major League Soccer where players can get traded from a team without the player’s permission.

In the history of Major League Soccer, MLS clubs have moved countless players unexpectedly across the country. Then, the players have to move their whole lives with their families, too. For example, Rodolfo Pizarro said it is hard for MLS to have a concept like this. Former LA Galaxy player Robbie Rogers talked about the after he was traded without his permission.

2. Transfer rules, GAM, TAM, and College Priority Protected Period

Major League Soccer has a salary cap, but it is a league-wide cap, and it is the same for all clubs. The raw salary cap in Major League Soccer for the 2023 season was $5.3 million. Clubs must divide that sum across the contracts of the entire team with 18 to 20 players.

There are exceptions to that, though. TAM, or Targeted Allocation Money, is reserved for players who make an immediate impact on the first team. Generally, these players will make more than the average MLS player, and it is a way for Major…

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Author : Kyle Fansler

Publish date : 2024-01-16 23:19:03

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