When he wasn’t helping Atlanta United win the MLS Cup, U.S. Open Cup or Campeones Cup, Jeff Larentowicz spent most of the past two years on the phone as an executive board member of the Major League Soccer Players Association in its negotiations with Major League Soccer over a new collective bargaining agreement.
That work came a to fruitful conclusion Thursday when it was announced that the two sides had agreed to a deal, a day before the deadline and three weeks before the start of the league season. The five-year deal must be approved by the league’s Board of Governors and voted on by the players.
“This continues to move the league forward and improves the playing conditions for all players,” Larentowicz said.
This was the third CBA that Larentowicz has helped the MLSPA work on and he said it was by far the easiest. There were no last-minute meetings with federal mediators in Washington, D.C. There wasn’t a lot of acrimony. Larentowicz said the players were united, making it known months ago that if there wasn’t some agreement to their demands they were willing to strike.
Several Atlanta United players were part of a group of more than 80 who participated. Brad Guzan and former player Leandro Gonzalez Pirez also worked on the negotiations.
The players received many of the things they wanted: an increase in charter flights, higher salaries, less restrictive use of funds for paying players, an easier path to free agency, a share of future media rights, more bonuses.
“It’s not time to have a parade, there is still plenty of work to be done,” Larentowicz said. “Any negotiation like this is a step in the right direction. Overall, we feel pretty good. When the talks were ongoing, a good deal is good for everyone. I think a good deal that promotes the quality on the field and allows the players to live a good life so that they can take care of themselves and perform on Saturdays is the most important thing. I think we’ve gotten closer there.”
Among the highlights:
Increases in salary budget, GAM, performance bonuses and discretionary TAM will increase from $9.225 million in 2020 incrementally to $11.643 million in 2024. In 2019, it was $8.49 million. Adding more GAM will allow teams to better reward players who have outperformed contracts. Each team’s allotment of $1.2 million in TAM, money that can be used on players with salaries between $540,000 and $1.5 million and was a mechanism that was not like by the MLSPA, will be converted to GAM for this season. TAM can be used to sign free agents, which is new and was described as a must by MLSPA Executive Director Bob Foose. The maximum number of Designated Players (3) will not change.
Any future possible changes to roster spends must be approved by the MLSPA and must include a minimum 40 percent into unrestricted money. This was done to prevent another “bucket” of money like TAM.
“There’s far less restricted money, and I think that’s a great thing,” Larentowicz said. “There are built-in protections that we’ve created that will eliminate that fear of new money creating more restrictions.”
The minimum salary of a senior roster player will incrementally and annually increase from $70,250 in 2019 to $109,000 in 2024 with as much as $35,000 in achievable bonuses. The salary increase will be 55 percent by 2024. The minimum salary of reserve roster player will incrementally and annually increase from $56,250 in 2019 to $85,000 in 2024 with as much as $53,000 in achievable bonuses.
Segments of charter flights, which were a maximum of four in 2019, will increase to a mandatory eight in 2020 and to 16 in 2024. Teams will be required to fly charter to CONCACAF Champions League for international matches as well as for playoff matches. Players wanted this to help improve rest and recovery and the on-field product.
“I think it’s vital,” Larentowicz said. “It’s a huge steppingstone for us as players.”
Free-agency rules will change from a player needing to be 28 years old with eight years in MLS to qualify to needing to be 25 years old with five years of service. This change is expected to double the pool of eligible free agents. There also is no longer a cap on the number of free agents a team can sign. The previous cap was two.
Starting with the 2023 season, players will share in revenue from media rights.
“We got a deal that will significantly improve what it means to be an MLS player,” Foose said.
Larentowicz, 36 and who is in his 16th year in MLS, didn’t want to say if this CBA would be his legacy as a player. But he did look proud on Thursday.
“History judges CBAs,” he said. “We will see what happens. When I think about when I came into the league and now were guys are coming into the league. When I retire in 2024 the league minimum salary will be close to $110,000. When I started … (in 2005) it was $10,000. It’s very good, and I think that it’s been a long time coming.”
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