Jun, 27 2025
Inter Miami's Payroll Dominance and the Ripple Effect
If you think salaries in Major League Soccer are leveling out, take a look at the MLS salary release for 2025. Inter Miami smashes records with a whopping $46.8 million team payroll, outpacing every other team by miles. For context, that's nearly twice what second-placed Toronto FC spends, sitting at $34.1 million. Atlanta United comes in third with $27.6 million. The Miami squad's spending blowout comes down to one huge factor: Lionel Messi.
Messi still reigns as the league’s payroll king, pulling in $20.4 million this season. That’s not his whole take-home — it includes base salary, marketing bonuses, and hefty agent fees, but additional side deals and performance incentives aren’t even in that figure. To grasp his dominance, Messi alone makes more than the entire payroll of 21 MLS teams combined. His presence hasn’t just changed Inter Miami’s fortunes — it’s pushed the payroll benchmark for the whole league into new territory.
Money Games: Cap Rules, Creative Spending, and Club Strategies
Further down the payroll list, LA Galaxy spends $22.9 million, FC Cincinnati comes in at $23.2 million, and Los Angeles FC sits at $22.4 million. Newcomer San Diego Wave FC debuts as the 10th highest-spending team, notching up $20 million as they build brand-new star power. But not every club is aiming for the top shelf. CF Montréal spends just under $12 million, claiming the league’s smallest payroll. Philadelphia Union isn’t far ahead at $13.4 million, focusing on sharp scouting and young talent development rather than blockbuster salaries.
The league’s rules, as always, make things complicated. For 2025, the salary cap rises to $5.95 million per club, but that's just the surface. Maximum individual player charges are set at $743,750, yet high rollers leverage “Designated Player” slots to spend extra on stars like Messi. U22 initiatives let clubs sign young up-and-comers without smashing their budget. It's a balancing act — spend too much and you need allocation money to clean up, spend too little and you risk losing ground on the field.
Take Atlanta United, for example. The club shelled out $5.39 million in General Allocation Money (GAM) this year, showing that big outlays don’t just happen in base salaries but behind the scenes in roster moves and trades. LA Galaxy, meanwhile, has been juggling its roster since last year’s championship win, restructuring contracts and adjusting finances to keep their squad competitive under the new financial limits.
What all this spending shuffle really shows is just how resourceful MLS teams have become at squeezing the most value from complex salary rules. Whether it's mega-stars or budget bargains, each club now has to play the numbers game just as strategically as they play soccer.