Each year the MLS Competition Committee determines the allocation amount to be made available to each club. Allocation money can be traded by clubs. Allocation money does not count against a club’s salary budget and can be used: • To sign players new to MLS (that is, a player who did not play in MLS during the previous season). • To re-sign an existing MLS player, subject to League approval. • To “buy-down” a player’s salary budget charge below the League maximum of $350,000. • In connection with the exercise of an option to purchase a player’s rights or the extension of a player’s contract for the second year provided the player was new to MLS in the immediately prior year. NOTE: To protect the interests of MLS and its clubs during discussions with prospective players or clubs in other leagues, amounts of allocation money held by each club will not be shared publicly. (B) DESIGNATED PLAYER The Designated Player Rule allows clubs to acquire up to three players whose salaries exceed their budget charges, with the club bearing financial responsibility for the amount of compensation above each player’s budget charge. Designated Player slots may be used to acquire players new to MLS or to retain current MLS players, subject to League approval. In 2012, a Designated Player over the age of 23** will carry a salary budget charge of $350,000, unless the player joins his club in the middle of the season, in which case his budget charge will be $175,000. A Designated Player 20 years old or younger** counts as $150,000 against the club’s salary budget and a Designated Player 21-23 years old counts as $200,000 against the club’s salary budget. Clubs have the option of “buying down” the budget charge of a Designated Player with allocation money. The reduced charge may not be less than $150,000. The budget charge for the midseason signing of a young Designated Player (23 years old and younger) is $150,000 and this amount cannot be lowered with allocation funds. Each club has two Designated Player slots and clubs are allowed to “purchase” a third Designated Player slot for a one-time fee of $250,000 that will be dispersed in the form of allocation money to all clubs that do not have three Designated Players. Clubs will not have to buy the third DP roster slot to accommodate Designated Players 23 years old and younger. Designated Player slots are not tradable. ** Age of player is determined by year (not date) of birth. (C) SUPERDRAFT The 2012 MLS SuperDraft, held Jan. 12 in Kansas City, Mo., consisted of two rounds of 19 picks for a total of 38 player selections. A supplemental draft was held Jan. 17 via teleconference and consisted of four rounds of 19 picks. The majority of draft prospects are NCAA college seniors who have exhausted their college eligibility. Generation adidas players and non-collegiate international players are also eligible for selection in the SuperDraft and supplemental draft. Clubs may nominate players for the League’s draft-eligible list, and only players from that list may be selected.
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Generation adidas is a joint program between MLS and adidas that is dedicated to developing exceptional domestic talent in a professional environment. Each year, a handful of top domestic underclassmen and youth national team players are signed to the league and placed in the SuperDraft through this program. Generation adidas players also receive an educational stipend. Draft Order: The Montreal Impact held the first overall selection in the 2012 MLS SuperDraft as expansion clubs are always given the top spot in the SuperDraft and the Supplemental Draft. The next eight selections went to clubs that did not qualify for the 2011 MLS Cup Playoffs beginning with the club with fewest regular season points (3 points per win, one point per tie). The remaining ten positions were ranked by fewest regular season points among the teams that were eliminated in the same round of the MLS Cup Playoffs. Unless claimed on waivers, a player who was drafted by a particular team through the SuperDraft or supplemental draft and did not sign with the League, is placed on that team’s “College Protected List” until the second December 31 following the draft in question, after which the team loses the rights to the player. (D) TRADES Players, SuperDraft and Supplemental draft picks, allocation money, allocation rankings, and international player slots may all be exchanged in trades approved by the MLS League Office, provided all of the necessary rules regarding roster and salary budget compliance are met and the trade is completed during a valid trading period. No trades may occur after the Roster Freeze Deadline of September 15, 2012 at 5 p.m. ET. (E) DISCOVERY SIGNINGS Clubs may make discovery claims on players not yet under MLS contract who are not subject to the allocation ranking or lottery mechanisms. Each club has the opportunity to make six discovery signings per season (expansion teams may make 10 discovery signings in their inaugural season). A club may have up to 10 discovery claims on unsigned players at any time and may remove or add players at any time. The last day for discovery player signings is September 15, 2012 – coinciding with the roster freeze date and trade deadline. The six discovery signings can be used to fill senior roster spots only. If multiple clubs claim the same player using a discovery, the club that filed the claim first will have first rights to the player. Discovery claims expire following each season. If the League and player are unable to reach an agreement during the season, the club that first filed the discovery retains the right of first refusal in the event the player is later signed by the League. Note: To protect interests of MLS clubs in scouting and negotiations with prospective players, the League office will not publicize the names of players on club discovery lists, nor specify if a discovery claim has been filed on a particular player. (F) HOMEGROWN PLAYER SIGNINGS A club may sign a player to his first professional contract without subjecting him to the MLS SuperDraft if the player has trained for at least one year in the club’s youth development program and has met the League’s Homegrown Player criteria. Players joining MLS through this mechanism are known as Homegrown Players. There is no limit to the number of Homegrown Players a club may sign in a given year.
(G) RE-ENTRY PROCESS The 2012 Re-Entry Process will commence after MLS Cup. The priority order for the Re-Entry Draft is reverse order of finish in 2012, taking into account playoff performance. Available to all teams in Stage 1 of the Re-Entry draft will be: 1. Players who are at least 23 years old and have a minimum of three years experience in MLS whose options were not exercised by their clubs (available at option salary for 2013). 2. Players who are at least 25 years old with a minimum of four years of MLS experience who are out of contract and whose club does not wish to re-sign them at their previous salary (available for at least their 2012 salary). 3. Players who are at least 30 years old with a minimum of eight years of MLS experience who are out of contract and whose club does not wish to re-sign them (available for at least 105% of their 2012 salary). Players who are not selected in Stage 1 of the Re-Entry Draft will be made available in Stage 2. Clubs selecting players in Stage 2 will negotiate a new salary with the player. Players who remain unselected after Stage 2 will be available to any MLS club on a first come, first serve basis. (H) WAIVERS A team may place a player on waivers at any time during the regular season at which point he is made available to all other teams. The waiver claiming period shall commence on the first business day after the League delivers notice to teams and shall expire at 5 p.m. EST on the second business day after the Waiver Period Commencement Date. The claiming period is 48 hours. The Waiver Draft order is determined via points per game once all teams have played at least three MLS League games. If the waiver takes place prior to all teams playing in at least three League games, priority shall be granted based upon the prior year’s performance, taking playoff performance first, with teams eliminated from playoff contention at the same stage separated according to their point totals through the end of the regular season. New expansion teams shall be at the bottom of the waiver order.
(v) A player who was drafted in the SuperDraft or supplemental draft, and who after a trial with the club is not offered a contract by the first Monday of June. (I) LOTTERY Some players shall be assigned to MLS teams via the weighted Lottery process. Any team assigned a player through the lottery in any particular season shall not be assigned another lottery player that season unless and until all teams have received a lottery player or have agreed to waive their option to participate in a Lottery. The players made available through lotteries include: (i) Generation adidas players signed after the MLS SuperDraft; (ii) Draft eligible players to whom an MLS contract was offered but who failed to sign with the League prior to the Draft. The weighted lottery takes into consideration each team’s performance over its last 34 regular season games and the most recent postseason. The team with the worst record over its last 34 regular season games (dating back to previous season if necessary and taking playoff performance into account) will have the greatest probability of winning the lottery. Teams are not required to participate in a lottery. Players are assigned via the lottery system in order to prevent a player from potentially influencing his destination club with a strategic holdout. (J) EXTREME HARDSHIP CALL-UPS Teams may add players to their roster in cases of “extreme hardship” as follows: (1) a club with three goalkeepers on its 30-man roster, but has less than two available goalkeepers or (2) a team has less than 15 available players. Extreme hardship call-ups are made on a game-by-game basis. (K) SEASON-ENDING INJURY REPLACEMENTS (Season Ending Injury List) A team with a player lost to a season-ending injury can place the player on the Season Ending Injury List and replace that player on its roster, while remaining responsible for the full amount of the injured player’s salary. A player can be placed on the season-ending injury list once another player has been signed as a replacement (provided the team has budget space). International player limits still apply at the time a season-ending replacement is made (with the player being replaced not counting against those limits).
(i) A player waived by an MLS team in the current season;
(L) SHORT-TERM INJURY REPLACEMENTS (Disabled List) A player who has a short-term injury can be placed on the Disabled List once another player has been signed as a replacement (provided the team has budget space). The team will remain responsible for the full amount of the injured player’s salary on the salary budget. Note: the injured player will have to sit out a minimum of six MLS League matches before he can rejoin the team’s roster.
(ii A player who completed his college eligibility within the past season, who was not made available in the SuperDraft or Supplemental Draft;
International player limits still apply at the time a short-term replacement is made (with the player being replaced not counting against those limits).
(iii) A player who has remaining college eligibility (and was not made available in the SuperDraft or Supplemental Draft), but the League at its discretion and after taking into account exceptional circumstances determines the player may be offered an MLS contract;
NOTE: No changes may be made to a team’s active full roster during the period beginning on September 16, 2012 (day after Roster Freeze Date) through the day after MLS Cup. Nevertheless, a team may obtain players in accordance with the extreme hardship rules and procedures to replace players who are injured or otherwise legitimately unavailable after the Roster Freeze Date. Any other replacements after the Roster Freeze Date may only be made in exceptional circumstances in the League’s sole and absolute discretion.
Once a team selects a player off waivers, that club is automatically moved to the bottom of the priority list for subsequent waiver selections in a given season, regardless of its points-per-game total. Players who may be placed on the MLS waiver wire are as follows:
(iv) A player who has played in MLS previously where his last MLS team does not wish to exercise their right of first refusal, except in the case of returning U.S. National Team players as stated above.
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