MLS considering altering salary budgets with league expansion
Changes might come to the American league after the announcement of the 30-team expansion, something that could affect budgets directly.
With the MLS announcement to increase the league to 30 teams, and with the Collective Bargaining Agreement expiring after the 2019 season, changes are most likely coming.
Paul Tenorio of The Athletic mentioned that the MLS is weighing up other changes besides the expansion, and among those is the altering of salary budgets, as many general managers would like to see their budgets triple.
The 2019 salary cap of the league is set at $4,240,000 and tripling that number would get the funds up to nearly $13 million, which would blow the top off MLS spending assuming the Designated Player and Targeted Allocation Money mechanism still exists. As for the owners to increase salaries that much, they'd probably want something in return.
Other possible changes
MLS teams are allowed to have 30 registered players for the season, and the league is reportedly looking to alter the international player limits. Right now they're allowed eight international players on their rosters.
The idea of expanding those spots is to accommodate a growing league, and with the current rules the rosters would go up to 900 players, which would require an increase of 37 percent of the list to fill all available slots.