The Union are dead last in player payroll, but are they last in ambition?

Spring is here. The flowers are blooming. The bees are buzzing. The MLS players’ salaries are public. And that means Philadelphia Union fans are spewing their vitriol at ownership. Perhaps they have a gripe. The new report ranks the Union dead last in player compensation, and the wisdom goes that money buys talent and talent wins games. It just so happens the Union are currently 29th in a 30-team table. Those two things equal an “ownership group with no ambition.” 

But is that really what ails the Union? Ambition? Let’s maybe not be so angry. Let’s smell those flowers and listen to what those bees are saying.

The Union are paying their players (and their agents) $11.7 million this season, which is 5% lower than the next team Sporting KC, and 43% lower than the median team. That figure is also lower than their wage bill in 2025, which was $13.4 million. But these expenses don’t include business done with other clubs. According to transfermarkt.com, the Union were net buyers this offseason, to the tune of $3.65 million. Ezekiel Alladoh and Agustin Anello required large fees not matched by the sales of Tai Baribo and Kai Wagner. Including those figures means the net outlay for this season is $15.4 million, which would rank them a tad higher at #23 (of course, that assumes that the other teams ahead of them weren’t net buyers).

To go one level deeper, the Union also rank dead last in paying offensive players. Only $4.6 million of their tally goes to the offensive end of the field. While the transfer fees were expensive, they were paying for youthful potential and not on the field talent. The Union offense ranks near the bottom of the league with 9 offensive goals all season. Not good.

The problem with the conventional wisdom is that money isn’t really predictive of winning in MLS. The next lowest team in terms of investing in offensive players is Real Salt Lake, and their offense is perfectly fine at 1.8 goals per game. The league’s best team, the San Jose Earthquakes, are near bottom of the league in player compensation. Last year, the Union won the Supporters’ Shield with a paltry set of wages, and the examples continue. 

The current correlation between player compensation and the league table is 0.27. That’s not very high. It’s actually a good bit higher than recent years, indicating that finally money is starting to matter a wee bit. The conventional wisdom is so obvious in the top leagues around the world – money does buy trophies – and that might be starting to happen in MLS. But let’s be clear, it’s not true yet.

That said, the Union are also playing with fire here. Taking their compensation level and using that correlation to predict their expected points results in 1.18 per game. That’s not good enough to make the playoffs. So they KNOW their investment isn’t enough to put them in the playoffs on average. They clearly think they are smarter than everyone else. Having built a consistently competitive team over the last decade, they believe in their formula of a strong academy combined with a consistent track record of finding uncut gems internationally. But spending so little will, on average, lead to terrible seasons like this. The risks they took haven’t panned out, and the season is a disaster. 

The fans have a fair gripe. The Union are in an awesome sports market and have enough of a soccer culture to lure the World Cup. The lack of investment is puzzling. Is it low ambition? I personally don’t think so. I think it’s part hubris, and part business optimization. They think they are great at finding and nurturing talent, and they know that money doesn’t buy wins. But whatever the reason, the Union ownership has come up short.

Here’s a look at the player salaries for the 2026 Philadelphia Union.

Jared Young

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