Not that any of you would be shocked by this news. According to a recent ESPN The Magazine article. I took out the rest of the world leagues and the other sports here in the US to just give you the MLS figures.
Naturally the LA Galaxy lead the way in weekly wages, overall yearly average and of course total payroll.
Biggest shockers of all, Sporting Kansas City sitting just below Columbus at the bottom of the barrel. That is what you would call wise spending.
You can also get a good sense of just how much allocation plays a factor in MLS. Lots of teams buying down players numbers. The same can be said for the Designated Players tags.
| Rank | Last year | Team | League | Avg. annual pay $ |
Avg. weekly pay | Total payroll $ |
Payroll rank |
| 219 | 222 | LA Galaxy | MLS | $555,799 | $10,688 | $17,229,783 | 206 |
| 222 | 218 | New York Red Bulls | MLS | $529,126 | $10,176 | $13,228,155 | 211 |
| 228 | 227 | Toronto FC | MLS | $321,959 | $6,192 | $8,370,923 | 223 |
| 251 | 270 | Chivas USA | MLS | $178,644 | $3,435 | $4,287,461 | 260 |
| 253 | 255 | Seattle Sounders | MLS | $173,024 | $3,327 | $5,363,729 | 249 |
| 255 | 250 | Philadelphia Union | MLS | $162,232 | $3,120 | $4,542,484 | 253 |
| 256 | 262 | FC Dallas | MLS | $157,387 | $3,027 | $4,406,842 | 257 |
| 257 | Vancouver Whitecaps | MLS | $150,092 | $2,886 | $4,202,583 | 262 | |
| 258 | 259 | Real Salt Lake | MLS | $149,926 | $2,883 | $3,898,065 | 268 |
| 259 | Portland Timbers | MLS | $149,515 | $2,875 | $4,485,462 | 254 | |
| 260 | 256 | Houston Dynamo | MLS | $147,882 | $2,844 | $3,697,038 | 270 |
| 261 | 226 | Chicago Fire | MLS | $145,521 | $2,798 | $3,929,075 | 267 |
| 262 | 257 | DC United | MLS | $141,307 | $2,717 | $3,673,994 | 271 |
| 263 | 258 | Colorado Rapids | MLS | $127,457 | $2,451 | $3,823,719 | 269 |
| 264 | 253 | New England Revolution | MLS | $125,802 | $2,419 | $3,522,468 | 273 |
| 265 | 260 | San Jose Earthquakes | MLS | $120,802 | $2,323 | $3,624,062 | 272 |
| 266 | Montreal Impact | MLS | $118,464 | $2,278 | $3,316,994 | 274 | |
| 267 | 254 | Sporting Kansas City | MLS | $116,786 | $2,246 | $3,270,014 | 275 |
| 278 | 252 | Columbus Crew | MLS | $89,369 | $1,719 | $2,770,428 | 276 |
The final numbers, were compiled by Nick Harris, editor of sportingintelligence.com. “Average Weekly Pay” is calculated from base player salaries from current or most recently completed seasons from each sport, and excludes endorsements, bonuses, appearance fees and any other source of extra compensation. All figures converted to U.S. dollars.
