Money Talks: MLS should take notes from Saudi spending
By Anthony Rotz
Backed by the Peoples Investment Fund (PIF), the Saudi Professional League has caught the world’s attention. The league and its state-owned teams are attracting plenty of notable names proving a long-standing notion wrong.
You’ve been hearing about it for months. Saudi Arabia is spending big on soccer. Starting with Cristiano Ronaldo, state-backed clubs in the Saudi Pro League (SPL) have opened their wallet to attract European talent to the Middle East. As Karim Benzema, Riyad Mahrez, and N’Golo Kante say goodbye to some of the world’s finest leagues, the Pro League has been derided as another Chinese Super League. Both have been criticized for signing over 30-year-old players lured by a massive check. Sure, plenty of players over 30 are making the trip east. But those aren’t the signings that should make leagues like MLS worry. In fact, MLS should take this as an opportunity to grow.
Ronaldo and Benzema will bring plenty of attention, but the most interesting signings are the stars in their primes. Jota, 24 joined Al-Ittihad. Ruben Neves, 26, left the Premier League for Al-Hilal. After years of links to big clubs, Sergej Milinković-Savić, 28, is teaming up with Neves at Al-Hilal. Moussa Dembele, a 27-year-old La Liga winner, has signed with Al-Ettifaq. Seko Fofana, 28, captained RC Lens to their first Champions League appearance in 20 years but has shunned Europe’s premier competition for Al-Nassr.
MLS has dealt with the stigma, fairly or unfairly, of being a retirement league since its inception. The idea being players would only leave Europe after they had exhausted all will or opportunities. Saudi Arabia is disproving that every day. To bring players from Europe, all you need is money. And be willing to spend that money. MLS is holding itself back with its own rules.
This isn’t advocating or demanding for MLS to allow clubs to recklessly spend but it’s time the league opened up more opportunities. The easiest way to do that is to expand the salary cap. Right now the cap is $5,210,000. That is 1.04% of the expected cost to start the next MLS franchise in San Diego. These owners can spend above and would spend above that cap. At $20,000,000, the league would consistently attract higher-caliber players. Are all the Ruben Neves of the world going to come running for a salary within that cap? Probably not but well-known and high-quality players like Wilfried Zaha, a free agent who signed with Galatasaray for $4.8M P/y would be more obtainable.
A higher salary cap would also allow the league to do away with allocation money, a confusing point for many trying to understand MLS.
While we do away with allocation money, we keep Designated Player and U-22 spots. DPs can continue to fit the standard profile, star power, and hopefully star talent. The U-22 initiative has done well to bring in young talent. As the caliber of players across the league improves, MLS will be even more attractive to young players looking to continue their growth. MLS can continue to establish itself as a league that can produce quality talent. Producing quality talent leads to sales continuing paths of financial success and sustainability for every club.
When it comes to signing players, money talks. And it’s time for MLS to listen.