MLS Players Rip League Over Club World Cup Pay Negotiations

The MLS Players Association is keeping its foot on the gas in the fight to get players a bigger share of Club World Cup prize money.

The union posted an update Sunday saying the league has been “making threats and promising retaliation” following its public pressure campaign a week before.

Three MLS teams are playing in the Club World Cup, which begins Saturday: the Seattle Sounders, LAFC, and Lionel Messi’s Inter Miami. The teams each get $9.55 million just for participating, and the league says that according to the collective bargaining agreement, each club only has to collectively pay its players up to $1 million of the tournament’s prize money.

That small amount is why players are protesting. On June 1, Sounders players warmed up wearing t-shirts reading “Club World Ca$h Grab” with an image of Mr. Monopoly wearing an “MLS” hat and holding a “FIFA” money bag. The back of their shirts read “Fair Share Now,” which also appeared on a graphic shared by several players on social media Sunday.

The MLSPA said Sunday that the league finally gave a proposal on Friday, which the union called “retaliatory in nature.” The offer, according to the players association, would not give players a bigger share of the prize money pie, and while it would offer 20% back-end compensation, the union said that figure is “below the international standard.” The union also said the league “attempted to strong-arm the MLSPA into making concessions” on matters unrelated to this summer’s tournament. 

“MLS spent most of last week making threats and promising retaliation against the MLSPA” because of the shirts, the union said. “MLS’s refusal to negotiate in good faith has created a major distraction for the players who should be focusing on preparing for a major international competition.”

MLS said in a statement Sunday the 20% figure would apply to all prize money received “from the group stage onward.” It also pointed out that players would receive more than $24 million if an MLS club won the tournament. The winning team will get up to $125 million.

“The League values the continued dedication and commitment of its players and looks forward to supporting them as they represent their clubs—and Major League Soccer— on the global stage this summer,” the league said.

When the current MLS CBA was ratified in 2021, the Club World Cup was nowhere near the uber-lucrative competition it is now.  In its last iteration held in early 2023, when Seattle became the first MLS squad to make the tournament, only seven teams competed. Now there are 32, and the prize purse has increased to $1 billion. 

It’s a controversial tournament—players have been complaining about overloaded calendars for months, and with the expanded World Cup coming next year, this summer offers the only real time to rest. Several other developments could test FIFA’s big gambit. U.S. soccer fans have seemed indifferent, leading to low ticket sales and FIFA offering partial refunds. The Trump administration has also fully or partially banned travel from about 20 nations, potentially blocking fans from attending.