MLS designated player rules explained

  • The MLS Designated Player rules came about in 2007
  • The rule is sometimes known as the "Beckham Rule"
  • MLS clubs can now acquire international superstars like Lionel Messi
Here's what it means to be an MLS Designated Player.
Here's what it means to be an MLS Designated Player. / Megan Briggs/GettyImages
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Ever since the inception of the MLS Designated Player rules, more and more international soccer stars have made the move to Major League Soccer for the right price.

Salary caps in American sports control just how much capital one team can spend on their players per season. In theory, the budget restrictions make it so no one team can buy all the best players available to create an unstoppable roster.

Major League Soccer, though, had to implement a way to get around the strict rules in 2007 when David Beckham signed a 5-year, $32.5 million deal with LA Galaxy. The momentous transfer led to the creation of the Designated Player rules that now help MLS teams attract and acquire renowned stars like Lionel Messi while going outside of their salary cap.

Here's a breakdown of the logistics surrounding Designated Players in the MLS.

CF Montreal v Chicago Fire FC
CF Montreal v Chicago Fire FC / Michael Miller/ISI Photos/GettyImages

MLS designated player rules explained

The MLS designated player rules allow clubs to acquire a maximum of three players whose wages and transfer fees would exceed a team's salary cap. Each club gets two Designated Player roster slots and can pay $150,000 to add a third.

To determine if a player meets the requirements to be listed as a Designated Player, a club must average all the guaranteed amounts they will owe the player per year.

Designated Players can either be new players joining the MLS or re-signed players already on a team's roster. A Designated Player can only be traded, though, once he reaches his second season in the MLS.

Compared to the Salary Budget Charge ($683,750) of a typical Designated Player, a Young Designated Player, age 23 or younger, has the following cheaper Salary Budget Charges, per the MLS Roster Rules and Regulations:

  • Ages 20 and younger: $150,000
  • Ages 21-23: $200,000

All MLS designated players in 2024

Check out the 15 new MLS Designated Players in the 2024 season:

Player

Team

Tomás Chancalay

New England Revolution

Emil Forsberg

New York Red Bulls

Djordje Mihailovic

Colorado Rapids

Pedro de la Vega

Seattle Sounders

Gabriel Pec

LA Galaxy

Petar Musa

FC Dallas

Hugo Cuypers

Chicago Fire

Luis Muriel

Orlando City

Joseph Paintsil

LA Galaxy

Stian Rode Gregersen

Atlanta United

Liel Abada

Charlotte FC

Jonathan Rodríguez

Portland Timbers

Hernán López

San Jose Earthquakes

Olivier Giroud

Los Angeles FC

Osman Bukari

Austin FC