Seattle Sounders Players Accuse MLS Of Club World Cup Cash Grab

Seattle Sounders players wore t-shirts bearing the slogan “Club World Cash Grab” ahead of their game against Minnesota United on Sunday night, as they seek bonuses more in fitting with the prize money received by clubs’ participation in the upcoming FIFA Club World Cup.

The “s” was stylised as a dollar sign to represent the lucrative amounts of money on offer to clubs in the tournament, which players feel is out of step with the bonus payments structure in the latest collective bargaining agreement between the Major League Soccer Players Association (MLSPA) and Major League Soccer (MLS).

The players were quickly backed by the MLSPA, who had prepared a statement and released it to coincide with the unveiling of the t-shirts worn pre-match.

“The MLSPA and all MLS players stand united with the Seattle Sounders players who tonight demanded a fair share of the FIFA Club World Cup prize money,” read the MLSPA statement.

“FIFA’s new tournament piles on to players’ ever-increasing workload without regard to their physical well-being. In order to seize this additional calendar territory, FIFA had to commit historic amounts of prize money to secure club and player participation.

“As a result, MLS will receive an unprecedented financial windfall. Despite this windfall, the league has refused to allocate a fair percentage of those funds to the players themselves.”

The Sounders qualified for the now expanded and quadrennial Club World Cup on the back of their landmark Concacaf Champions League victory in 2022.

The latest collective bargaining agreement was last updated in 2021, prior to the Sounders’ qualification for the Club World Cup and before the United States was confirmed as the tournament’s host.

As a result, Club World Cup bonus payments are not specifically mentioned by name in the current CBA, as other tournaments outside of MLS, such as the Concacaf Champions Cup, the Leagues Cup, the Campeones Cup, the US Open Cup, and the Canadian Championship are.

The relevant wording in the current CBA for non-specific tournaments, applicable to the Club World Cup, is:

“If an MLS Team or MLS receives prize money by virtue of the team’s performance and/or participation in a compulsory tournament or non-compulsory tournament, players competing in that tournament will receive the following: If the team or MLS receives prize money, fifty percent (50%) of such prize money up to a maximum payment to the players (collectively) of $1,000,000 per tournament.”

The prize money on offer at the Club World Cup means the MLS teams involved will receive at least $9.55 million just for participation, and this could rise depending on results in group stage matches.

A team qualifying for the knockout rounds would receive an additional $7.5 million, meaning a prize pot could soon reach $20 million for an MLS team that progresses from its group.

Inter Miami and Los Angeles FC join the Sounders as MLS representatives in the tournament, and though they will be underdogs in their respective groups, the $9.55 million for participation alone is substantial, and far more than the prize money MLS teams receive in any other tournament.

This is where the maximum of $1 million in bonuses to be shared among an entire roster of players begins to look relatively paltry in comparison to the money the clubs and the league will receive.

If there was no $1 million limit and the 50% arrangement remained in place, the guaranteed bonus pool from the $9.55 million would amount to over $4.7 million shared out between the players.

It is for this reason that the players believe the Club World Cup renders the CBA out of date with regards to bonuses, and are looking to come to an agreement with the league in relation to this tournament.

“For months, the players have privately and respectfully invited the league to discuss bonus terms, yet MLS has failed to bring forward a reasonable proposal,” the MLSPA added in its statement.

“Instead of recognizing the players who have brought MLS to the global stage, the league—which routinely asks the PA to deviate from the CBA—is clinging to an out-of-date CBA provision and ignoring longstanding international standards on what players typically receive from FIFA prize money in global competitions.

“It is the players who make the game possible. It is the players who are lifting MLS up on the global stage. They expect to be treated fairly and with respect.”

Players are being asked to play more games than ever before, and with all the money swilling around in the game, especially at the top level, it is only right that they seek their fair share for the additional work.

A players’ association, such as the MLSPA, is important in a league like MLS where a salary cap is in place and the amount most players can earn is artificially limited by that cap and other roster rules and restrictions.

The players’ issue is not with the Club World Cup itself, but with MLS for not coming to an agreement regarding bonus payments from what is an unusually lucrative tournament for its teams.