MLS Amends Designated Player Rules

Since the first ball was kicked between D.C. United and the then San Jose Clash in 1996, the spectre of the failed NASL has always hovered over MLS and indirectly influenced its decision making process. The NASL brought over some of the world's best players -- Pele, George Best, etc. -- it eventually folded in 1984.

MLS, at most turns, has taken an opposite approach to building a professional soccer league in America, using a single-entity structure to keep salaries in check across the board, while at the same time creating an solid infrastructure of stadiums and television rights deals, ensuring it'll be on around for the long haul.

Thursday however, only a few weeks after a lengthy and contentious negotiation between MLS owners and its players union for a new CBA, the league played it a little fast-and-loose, amending its "designated player" rules, which should only fuel a new wave of rumors of big-name European and or South American stars landing stateside.

The new rules, announced by the league, go into effect immediately. They allow for each team to sign up to two "Designated Players", with only $335,000 counting against the club's salary cap, down about $800,000 from the previous arrangement, allowing more money to go the rest of the players on the team. (The rest of a "Designated Players'" salary comes out of the individual owners pockets.)

That value against the cap is halved if a player is brought in during the middle of the season.

Clubs also have the option to purchase a third "Designated Player" spot for $250,000, with that fee distribution evenly across the board to clubs opting to refrain from a third player. The DP spots can't be traded and the maximum remains at three no matter what.

U.S. star Landon Donovan is no longer grandfathered in under the old rules and is a full DP. (One wrinkle, should a player like Donovan be sold abroad during the season, the parent club would gain some salary cap relief.)

These new rules amend the so-called "Beckham Rule", which was established in 2007 to facilitate the move of the English superstar to the Los Angeles Galaxy.

Since it's inception, the new rules haven't caused either MLS to collapse under the weight of mega-money salaries, nor has it ushered in a flood of aging former superstars looking for a semi-retirement and one final paycheck.

To date only 13 players have been used under the "Designated Player" allottment, ranging from the good -- Donovan, Guillermo Barros Schelotto and Cuauhtémoc Blanco -- to the bad -- Denilson and Marcelo Gallardo.

As of Thursday only six players currently fall under the designation -- David Beckham, Donovan, Juan Pablo Angel, Julian de Guzman, Freddie Ljungberg and Luis Landin. This only represents five of the league's 16 clubs, so it doesn't look like clubs are going to open the financial floodgates immediately. Plus, as the 2008 Los Angeles Galaxy are testament (and chronicled in "The Beckham Experiment") tying up too much of the MLS salary cap in one or two players isn't really the ticket to success.

It seems certain that the New York Red Bulls will go searching for a second player to pair with Angel, with Barcelona's Thierry Henry remaining the No. 1 target to grace the sparkling new Red Bull Arena. Former Spanish international Raul, too, has been linked with a move Stateside, though the Real Madrid captain doesn't nearly have the marquee value of Henry. (It's likely nearly every aging Euro star, from the likes of Andriy Shevchenko to even Ronaldinho will have his name bandied about and linked to MLS.)

The key in this situation is for clubs to target players that a) still have something left in the tank b) are committed professionals like Ljungberg who aren't simply coming to the states to enjoy cable television and Taco Bell and c) are "big" enough names to make an impact at the ticket window. If a player isn't going to give a team a boost at the gate, why bother paying him all that money, right?

Beyond landing European players at the end of their careers, club's could take the approach DC United did back when the rule first came into being and brought in Brazilian forward Luciano Emilio with a fraction of the fanfare of Beckham, but with much more on-field results. In the same vein, the Crew were transformed into perennial contenders when they struck up a deal to land Schelotto from Boca Juniors in 2007, as he eventually became a DP in 2008 before having his salary negotiated down again later on.

Though less prone to landing major headlines, the second option seems to be the better soccer move. There's no reason that with these new allotments MLS can't compete for the signatures for the better players in the Western Hemisphere, who usually end up in the cash-rich Mexican League.

A third benefit in the new rules is it gives teams the chance to keep young American players, by offering them a comparable salary to what European clubs may be able to put up. Would the lure of somewhere in the range of $2 million have been able to keep guys like Clint Dempsey from jumping across the pond? Perhaps not, but it would at least make them think for a second before making that leap.

Thursday's changes in the DP rules aren't the first steps of MLS morphing into NASL 2.0. Even if teams in major markets like Los Angeles and New York use all three DP slots, it won't bankrupt the rest of the league, which has a solid foundation in place affording the loosening -- in earnest -- of the purse strings.

It's hard to see but a handful of players or teams making use of the rule, anyway. If 13 clubs aren't using the one DP they had before Thursday it's doubtful they'll immediately jump to splash out a couple million for two players.

In fact, if you're a betting man, it's more likely the league loses one of its DPs -- Donovan -- after the World Cup before it adds another.

All Thursday's amendments do is give teams options. If they want to bring a big-name player to their fans, now they don't nearly have to jump through as many hoops to do it.