Where does the MLS rank in highest paid teams in world?
Going through the 10 websites that I always visit, I came across ESPN’s list of team salaries. ESPN’s final numbers were compiled by Nick Harris editor of sportingintelligence.com. The teams are ranked by average weekly pay, how much the average player makes in a week at that team.
Here is the breakdown of their criteria
The average weekly pay only consists of base salaries from current or recently completed seasons. It doesn’t take into account extra compensation which could be endorsements, bonuses, appearance fees and other sources.
-278 teams
-14 major pro leagues
-10 countries
-7 sports (soccer, baseball, football, hockey,basketball, cricket
-7,925 athletes
-$15.69 billion in salary
Let’s now see how the MLS teams did. I know it may look bad that all the MLS teams are below 218 other teams, but remember in this country we have multiple sports to choose from. This includes college teams as well. In other countries they have only a few sports to choose from. Here are the MLS Teams.
| Rank | Last Year | Team | Avg. weekly pay | Avg. weekly pay | % change in avg. weekly | Total payroll $ (rank) |
| 219 | 222 | La Galaxy | $555,799 | $10,688 | 27 | $17,299,183 (206) |
| 222 | 218 | New York Red Bull | $529,126 | $10,176 | -5 | $13,228,155 (211) |
| 228 | 227 | Toronto FC | $321,959 | $6,192 | 54 | $8,370,923 (223) |
| 251 | 270 | Chivas USA | $178,644 | $3,435 | 102 | $4,287,461 (260) |
| 253 | 255 | Seattle Sounders | $173,024 | $3,327 | 50 | $5,363,729 (249) |
| 255 | 250 | Philadelphia Union | $162,232 | $3,120 | 29 | $4,542,484 (253) |
| 256 | 262 | FC Dallas | $157,387 | $3,027 | 56 | $4,406,842 (257) |
| 257 | Vancouver Whitecaps | $150,092 | $2,886 | n/a | $4,202,583 (262) | |
| 258 | 259 | Real Salt Lake | $149,926 | $2,883 | 42 | $3,898,065 (268) |
| 259 | Portland Timbers | $149,515 | $2,875 | n/a | $4,485,462 (254) | |
| 260 | 256 | Houston Dynamo | $147,882 | $2,844 | 33 | $3,697,038 (270) |
| 261 | 226 | Chicago Fire | $145,521 | $2,798 | -37 | $3,929,075 (267) |
| 262 | 257 | DC United | $141,307 | $2,717 | 27 | $3,673,994 (271) |
| 263 | 258 | Colorado Rapids | $127,457 | $2,451 | 18 | $3,823,719 (269) |
| 264 | 253 | New England Revolution | $125,802 | $2,419 | 5 | $3,522,468 (273) |
| 265 | 260 | San Jose Earthquakes | $120,802 | $2,323 | 15 | $3,624,062 (272) |
| 266 | Montreal Impact | $118,464 | $2,278 | n/a | $3,316,994 (274) | |
| 267 | 254 | Sporting Kansas City | $116,786 | $2,246 | -1 | $3,270,014 (275) |
| 278 | 252 | Columbus Crew | $89,369 | $1,719 | -27 | $2,770,428 (276) |
By comparison here are some other teams. The Yankees,Lakers, Steelers and Capitals are the highest in their respective leagues.
| Rank | Last Year | Team | Avg.
weekly pay |
Avg.
weekly pay |
% change in avg. weekly | Total payroll $
(rank) |
| 1 | 1 | Barcelona | $8,680,569 | $166,934 | 10 | $217,014,221 (1) |
| 5 | 4 | L.A. Lakers | $6,278,088 | $120,732 | -4 | $87,893,233 (63) |
| 6 | 3 | N.Y. Yankees | $6,186,322 | $118,968 | -8 | $197,962,289 (2) |
| 34 | 56 | Schalke 04 | $4,187,722 | $80,533 | 19 | $115,844,040 (24) |
| 75 | 105 | Pittsburgh Steelers | $2,937,255 | $56,486 | 23 | $149,800,000 (11) |
| 86 | 100 | Washington Capitals | $2,678,500 | $51,510 | 10 | $66,962,500 (92) |
Pretty interesting stuff. If I ever have kids I’ll tell them to pick sports with the least amount of contact.
