![David Beckham 2010 LA Galaxy](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/d/d3/David_Beckham_2010_LA_Galaxy.jpg)
The Designated Player Rule, nicknamed the Beckham Rule, allows
Major League Soccer
Major League Soccer (MLS) is a men's professional soccer league sanctioned by the United States Soccer Federation, which represents the sport's highest level in the United States. The league comprises 29 teams—26 in the U.S. and 3 in Canada ...
franchises to sign up to three players that would be considered outside their
salary cap
In professional sports, a salary cap (or wage cap) is an agreement or rule that places a limit on the amount of money that a team can spend on players' salaries. It exists as a per-player limit or a total limit for the team's roster, or both. Sever ...
(either by offering the player higher wages or by paying a transfer fee for the player). The rule, which was adopted ahead of the 2007 MLS season, enables teams to compete for star players in the international football market. The rule is one of two mechanisms by which MLS teams may exceed their salary cap, the other being
allocation money
Allocation money, in Major League Soccer, represents an amount of money that teams may use to sign players and/or allocate to their salaries to get under the salary cap.
Reasons for obtaining
MLS teams receive general allocation money for these r ...
. As of December 2019, there have been 209 Designated Players in league history.
The rule is informally named after
David Beckham
David Robert Joseph Beckham (; born 2 May 1975) is an English former professional footballer, the current president and co-owner of Inter Miami CF and co-owner of Salford City. Known for his range of passing, crossing ability and bending fr ...
, in anticipation of MLS teams signing lucrative deals with internationally recognized players, after Beckham entered into negotiations to join the league.
Beckham was the first player signed under this rule, signing a five-year contract with the
Los Angeles Galaxy
LA Galaxy, also known as the Los Angeles Galaxy, are an American professional soccer club based in the Los Angeles metropolitan area. The Galaxy competes in Major League Soccer (MLS), as a member of the Western Conference. The club began play ...
with a guaranteed annual salary of $6.5 million.
History
The team salary cap was estimated to be around
US$
The United States dollar (symbol: $; code: USD; also abbreviated US$ or U.S. Dollar, to distinguish it from other dollar-denominated currencies; referred to as the dollar, U.S. dollar, American dollar, or colloquially buck) is the official ...
1.9 million in 2006, was $2.1 million in 2007, and was raised to $2.3 million for the 2008 season.
As part of the 2010 Collective Bargaining Agreement between MLS and the MLS Players' Union, the 2010 salary cap was $2.55 million, with an automatic five percent increase each year until the expiration of the agreement at the end of the 2014 season.
Under the 2007 rule:
*The rule expires at the end of the 2009 season, and must be renewed then or allowed to lapse.
*For each Designated Player, $400,000
of his salary is charged to the salary cap and paid by the league, with any remaining salary being paid by the team's owner. This value was increased for the 2009 season to $415,000.
*Prior to the 2007 season, there were three players whose salary exceeded $400,000. These players were
Landon Donovan
Landon Timothy Donovan (born March 4, 1982) is an American former professional soccer player. Donovan is also the co-founder and vice-president of soccer operations for USL Championship side San Diego Loyal SC, and serves as strategic advisor fo ...
,
Carlos Ruiz, and
Eddie Johnson. According to the rule, these players were
grandfathered
A grandfather clause, also known as grandfather policy, grandfathering, or grandfathered in, is a provision in which an old rule continues to apply to some existing situations while a new rule will apply to all future cases. Those exempt from t ...
in for the 2007 season, and the exemption was extended after the 2007 season, with the league planning to review the issue at a future date. It was possible that the league would be required to renegotiate these players' contracts or consider them Designated Players. However, prior to the start of the 2008 season, Johnson moved to
Fulham
Fulham () is an area of the London Borough of Hammersmith & Fulham in West London, England, southwest of Charing Cross. It lies on the north bank of the River Thames, bordering Hammersmith, Kensington and Chelsea. The area faces Wandsworth ...
of the
Premier League
The Premier League (legal name: The Football Association Premier League Limited) is the highest level of the men's English football league system. Contested by 20 clubs, it operates on a system of promotion and relegation with the English Foo ...
, while following
Dwayne De Rosario
Dwayne Anthony De Rosario OOnt (born May 15, 1978) is a Canadian former professional soccer player, who played as a forward or as an attacking midfielder. De Rosario last played for the Mississauga MetroStars of the Major Arena Soccer League ...
's signing by Toronto FC in January 2009, Ruiz was released by the club and left MLS to play for
Olimpia Asunción
Club Olimpia is a Paraguayan sports club based in the city of Asunción. The club promotes the practice of various sports with most importance given to the football, rugby and basketball sides, the former being the highest priority and most su ...
. This left Donovan as the lone player whose 2009 salary remained grandfathered under the exemption provision. However, there were several more players whose guaranteed salary exceeded the Designated Player amount, but whose salary cap expense was actually lower than their true salary due to the
allocation rule. These players include
Shalrie Joseph
Shalrie Jamal Joseph (born May 24, 1978) is a Grenadian former professional footballer who is currently a coach with the New England Revolution organization.
Youth and College
Joseph moved to Brooklyn, New York with his family as a teenager. He ...
($450,000),
Christian Gomez
Christians () are people who follow or adhere to Christianity, a monotheistic Abrahamic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus Christ. The words ''Christ'' and ''Christian'' derive from the Koine Greek title ''Christós'' (Χρισ ...
($430,000), Dwayne De Rosario ($425,750), and
Taylor Twellman
Taylor Timothy Twellman (born February 29, 1980) is an American former soccer player who played professionally from 1999 to 2010. He now works in the media as a soccer television commentator.
Twellman is best known for his play with the New Eng ...
($420,000).
*Each team initially had one Designated Player spot, but could trade their Designated Spot to another team; teams were allowed a maximum of two Designated Players.
*Only $325,000 of a team's second Designated Player counted against the salary cap, which was increased to $335,000 in 2009.
The 2010 changes:
*The rule has no expiration date.
*For each Designated Player, $335,000 of his salary is charged to the salary cap and paid by the league ($167,500 for DP players joining during the MLS summer transfer window), with any remaining salary being paid by the team's owner. This amount is halved for Designated Players signed in the middle of the season. The salary cap value of Designated Players can also be reduced using allocation money. Finally, teams whose Designated Players transfer abroad in the middle of a season can recoup part of the Designated Players' salary cap value.
*Landon Donovan is no longer grandfathered into the rule and must be considered a Designated Player.
*Each team is allowed two Designated Player spots, and they can no longer trade their Designated Player spots. The
New York Red Bulls
The New York Red Bulls are an American professional soccer club based in the New York metropolitan area. The Red Bulls compete in Major League Soccer (MLS) as a member of the Eastern Conference. The club was established in October 1994 and be ...
will receive $70,000 in allocation money in return for the nullification of their 2007 trade with
Chivas USA
Chivas USA (pronounced ''CHEE-vahs'') was an American professional soccer team based in the Los Angeles suburb of Carson, California. The club played from 2005 to 2014 in Major League Soccer (MLS) and was a subsidiary of Mexican club C.D. Guada ...
for an additional Designated Player spot. This means that both New York and Chivas USA will have two Designated Player spots for the 2010 season.
*Teams can pay a $250,000 "luxury tax" for the right to sign a third Designated Player. This $250,000 would be distributed equally to all MLS teams that have not signed a third Designated Player in the form of
allocation money
Allocation money, in Major League Soccer, represents an amount of money that teams may use to sign players and/or allocate to their salaries to get under the salary cap.
Reasons for obtaining
MLS teams receive general allocation money for these r ...
.
The 2012 changes:
Starting with the 2012 season, the rule was changed with respect to younger players. MLS announced the changes in August 2011 after clubs expressed concern about signing young international players with no guarantees that they would develop into stars.
* Designated Players over the age of 23 will carry a salary budget charge of $350,000, unless the player joins his club in the middle of the season, in which case his budget charge will be $175,000.
* Designated Players 21–23 years old count as $200,000 against the club's salary budget.
* Designated Players 20 years old or younger count as $150,000 against the club's salary budget.
* The budget charge for the midseason signing of a young Designated Player (23 years old and younger) is $150,000 and this amount cannot be lowered with allocation funds.
* Clubs will not have to buy the third DP roster slot to accommodate Designated Players 23 years old and younger.
* Age of player is determined by year (not date) of birth.
The maximum budget charge for Designated Players over age 23 was increased to $368,750 for 2013, $387,500 in 2014, $436,250 in 2015, $457,500 in 2016, and $480,625 in 2017. The budget charge for those who join during the midseason transfer window has remained at one-half of the full-season cap charge since the inception of the rule. The budget charges for younger players have not changed since 2012.
Background
The rule is informally named after
David Beckham
David Robert Joseph Beckham (; born 2 May 1975) is an English former professional footballer, the current president and co-owner of Inter Miami CF and co-owner of Salford City. Known for his range of passing, crossing ability and bending fr ...
, in anticipation of MLS teams signing lucrative deals with internationally recognized players of Beckham's caliber.
Beckham was the first player to be signed under this rule, signing a lucrative contract with the Los Angeles Galaxy
LA Galaxy, also known as the Los Angeles Galaxy, are an American professional soccer club based in the Los Angeles metropolitan area. The Galaxy competes in Major League Soccer (MLS), as a member of the Western Conference. The club began play ...
worth up to $250 million over five years, with direct guaranteed compensation from MLS and Galaxy at $6.5 million a year.
Current Designated Players
Notes
* Chart indicates when players signed their current Designated Player contract, not necessarily their first year in MLS.
* Other players in MLS may also be paid a salary that takes them above the Designated Player threshold, but they have had their salary reduced against the salary cap using General or Targeted Allocation Money.
* Player salaries may be below the Designated Player threshold, but their transfer fee might mean the total compensation takes them above the threshold.
* Player salaries include compensation from their MLS contract, not including any bonuses or compensation from contracts with individual teams or their affiliates.
Club DP history
Notes
* The below list indicates players who have had their contract assigned as a Designated Player (DP) contract during their time in MLS. Players may have not always have had a DP contract, or have later had their contract negotiated below a DP level. Similarly, some players have been in MLS whose salary has been at a DP level, but the club has opted to bring their salary below the DP threshold using General Allocation Money or Targeted Allocation Money. Their listed "Years as DP" indicates what seasons they were active as a DP for that club only. Players in bold are currently signed to a DP contract by their club.
* Former MLS sides Miami Fusion
The Miami Fusion was a professional soccer team based in Fort Lauderdale, Florida. They played in Major League Soccer (MLS) for four seasons, from 1998 to 2001. Announced in 1997 as one of the league's first two expansion teams, their best seas ...
and Tampa Bay Mutiny
Tampa Bay Mutiny was a professional soccer team based in Tampa, Florida. They were a charter member of Major League Soccer (MLS) and played from 1996 to 2001. They played their home games at Tampa Stadium and then at Raymond James Stadium.
The ...
were dissolved before the introduction of the Designated Player Rule.
Atlanta United FC
Austin FC
Charlotte FC
Chicago Fire FC
Chivas USA (defunct)
FC Cincinnati
Colorado Rapids
Columbus Crew
FC Dallas
D.C. United
Houston Dynamo FC
Inter Miami CF
Sporting Kansas City
LA Galaxy
Los Angeles FC
Minnesota United FC
CF Montréal
Nashville SC
New England Revolution
New York City FC
New York Red Bulls
Orlando City SC
Philadelphia Union
Portland Timbers
Real Salt Lake
St. Louis City SC
San Jose Earthquakes
Seattle Sounders FC
Toronto FC
Vancouver Whitecaps FC
Past and present Designated Players by country
See also
*Allocation money
Allocation money, in Major League Soccer, represents an amount of money that teams may use to sign players and/or allocate to their salaries to get under the salary cap.
Reasons for obtaining
MLS teams receive general allocation money for these r ...
*Franchise player
In professional sports, a franchise player is an athlete who is both the best player on their team and one that the team can build their "franchise" around for the foreseeable future.
Overview
In the United States, outstanding players were refe ...
References
External links
Designated Players glossary entry
at MLSsoccer.com
{{Major League Soccer
Major League Soccer rules and regulations
Association football terminology
Association football player non-biographical articles
David Beckham