Inter Miami (Barcelona) and the MLS Roster Rules

Lionel Messi is coming to MLS! 

And, apparently, so are his former Barcelona teammates Sergio Busquets and Jordi Alba. There has been speculation that other well-known players might be on their way to Miami as well (Sergio Ramos and Eden Hazard, among others). Many have wondered how all these players could come to Miami, given the MLS rules on rosters, salaries, etc.

This blog will hopefully help clarify the MLS roster rules and help you understand how Inter Miami can bring these players to MLS.

Let's start by understanding that MLS Roster. Most simply, up to 30 players are eligible for selection to the game-day squad. Roster slots 1-20 make up the "Senior Roster," and roster slots 21-30 make up the "Supplemental Roster." The salaries of the Senior Roster count against the club's salary budget, which is $5,210,000 for 2023, while the salaries of the Supplemental Roster do not count against the club's Salary Budget.

There are different "categories" of players that may fill up the 30-man roster. Let's start with the "International Player." MLS allocates 233 International Player slots to its 29 teams, meaning each team receives 8 International slots. These slots may be traded by clubs, so clubs may have more than 8 at a given time.

The most well known player category is the "Designated Player." Each club is allowed to acquire up to 3 DP players whose total compensation and acquisition costs exceed the "Maximum Salary Budget Charge" (the budget charge is the amount of salary that counts against the club's salary budget of $5,210,000). The Maximum Salary Budget Charge for a player in 2023 is $651,250, unless the player joins the club after the opening of the 2nd transfer window, in which case his budget charge will be $325,625. The club bears financial responsibility for the compensation due to a DP above that player's Salary Budget Charge. 

Make sense yet? Hopefully so...because there's more to consider...

Then, there's "GAM" and "TAM." GAM stands for "General Allocation Money." Each club receives an annual allotment of GAM; in 2023, that allotment is $1.9M per club. GAM may also be traded by clubs. Clubs can use GAM to reduce a player's Salary Budget Charge by half, or to $150,000, whichever is less. So, if a player's salary budget charge is $300,000, the club can use $150,000 of GAM to reduce the salary budget charge to $150,000. 

TAM stands for "Targeted Allocation Money." Unlike GAM, TAM cannot be traded. Also, clubs are given a little bit more TAM than GAM; in 2023, each club received $2,720,000 in TAM. TAM can be used to sign a new player or re-sign an existing player if his salary is more than the Maximum Salary Budget Charge of $651,250. It can also be used to convert a DP to a non-DP by buying down his Salary Budget Charge at or below the Maximum Salary Budget Charge. If TAM is used up to free a DP slot, the club must simultaneously sign a new DP. A player must earn more than $651,250 to qualify for TAM, and the compensation ceiling for TAM eligible players is $1,651,250 in 2023.  

So, let's look at Inter Miami. They already have 3 DP's, so how can they sign Messi and Busquets to DP slots? They can only trade 1 DP per year, so if they traded one of their DP's, that would leave them with 1 open slot available. Also, they can use TAM to buy down the salary of a DP to a non-DP level, thus freeing up a 2nd DP slot. 

What about Jordi Alba, can Inter Miami sign him as a DP as well? Potentially, but it would be tough. As noted above, MLS has rules in place limiting the transferability of DP's - the main rule being that a club can only transfer 1 DP per year. So, the club would need to be creative. They could buy out another DP and then buy down a third DP's salary using TAM. They could also potentially waive a player based on performance, but that would be difficult given that the waiver is based on performance.

It's most likely that Inter Miami will trade one of its DP's and then buy down the salary of another DP - the lowest salaried DP, player using TAM. This would free up to 2 DP slots for Messi and Busquets. It would be hard for Inter Miami to also sign Jordi Alba to a third DP contract, so the club may need to use TAM sign him. He'd then be an "International Player" and allowed on the Inter Miami roster if the club had an International Player roster available.

Yes, this is somewhat complicated. But, it's exciting and certainly a good time to be a fan of MLS. Stay tuned!