Report: Union Tenth Highest ‘Spenders’ In MLS In 2011

According to a report from Business Insider on MLS spending, the Philadephia Union are tenth in salary for the 2011 season.

The numbers that Business Insider used are probably from the beginning of the season, when former striker Carlos Ruiz was still on the Union’s payroll. A graph within the article lists the Union at $3.3 million, which would mostly rest upon the large salaries of Danny Califf, Faryd Mondragon and Ruiz. All together, the defender, goalkeeper and striker accounted for $953,337.34 of the previously mentioned $3.3 million.

However, the Union and teams in MLS do not actually pay for almost any of the salaries that Business Insider discusses in its article. MLS covers the costs of any salary that falls underneath this season's $2.67 million salary cap, along with any salary that does not count against the cap per MLS salary rules.

That means that the Union most likely did not pay any money toward that $3.3 million figure, but MLS did. Mondragon's nearly $400,000 salary is thought to have been paid down by the $70,000 in allocation money that teams receive for not utilizing roster spots 29 and 30 ($35,000-a-piece).