Which MLS team's spending returns the best on-field performance? | OneFootball

Does Miami's league results justify its payroll? That remains to be seen

For the second straight year, Inter Miami CF has Major League Soccer's highest payroll, $46.84 million (up from $41.7 million in 2024). But how is that investment working out for them in the standings?

It's hard to answer that question midway through the MLS season; some teams have played as many as 20 matches. The Herons, on the other hand, have played just 16, and others fall somewhere between the two. Inter Miami, Los Angeles FC and the Seattle Sounders competed in the expanded version of the FIFA Club World Cup, which began June 14 in Miami, and MLS didn't schedule those teams to play league games during the tournament's group stages. Inter Miami's surprising success earned them a Round-of-16 contest against newly crowned European champions Paris Saint-Germain on Sunday, forcing the team to reschedule a home match against Atlanta United to Saturday, Oct. 11.

MLS standings are based on points earned -- three for a win, one for a tie -- so, despite the disparity in matches played, I decided to find out how much salary each club was paying per point earned before this past weekend's matches. Jeff Reuter did some great analysis of MLS salaries, based on the recently released MLS Players' Association 2025 Salary Guide, at The Athletic. I used his figures for each team's total compensation and divided the total by the number of MLS points earned.

If the MLS season ended June 27, Inter Miami CF would have paid more than $1.6 million in salary for each of its 29 points.

Inter Miami, which fell from third to sixth during its June vacation from league matches, has earned 29 points so far; with a payroll of more than $46.8 million, that means each point will cost the Herons more than $1.6 million (assuming they lose the rest of their league matches; they won't). And, yes, that seems like an outrageously high price for sixth place, but it's not the highest: six teams were paying more than $1 million per point when I calculated these figures, and two -- Toronto FC and the LA Galaxy -- were paying more than $2 million.

On the other end of the spectrum, the league-best Philadelphia Union were paying just $334,139 for each of their 40 points.

Does that mean the Union are achieving more with less? Maybe. But I will reiterate a caveat that becomes a mantra when I'm writing about the business of soccer: these exercises are for entertainment only! I'm not an accountant or statistician, nor do I have an expert understanding of Major League Soccer's rules and regulations or the ins and outs of paying athletes. I'm sure there are many factors I haven't considered, but I do feel like this formula gives us a basic idea of how successful the teams' talent assessment and development have been.

Also, please keep in mind that these figures are a snapshot of how a team is doing at a particular juncture of the season; the numbers will change as points are earned. Because the Herons are spending $1.6 million per point now doesn't mean the figure will remain that high, it will go down as the season progresses (it better, or everybody's fired). Last year, for example, Inter Miami set an MLS regular season record with 74 points; with a total 2024 payroll of about $41.7 million, the Herons paid about $563,514 per point. That seems like a reasonable amount, roughly a middle point on the chart below.

TEAM -- PAYROLL -- GAMES PLAYED -- POINTS -- COST PER POINT

Philadelphia Union -- $13,365,549 --19 -- 40 -- $334,139

Minnesota United -- $13,804,472-- 19 -- 33 -- $418,317

Vancouver Whitecaps -- $15,713,177-- 18 -- 35-- $448,948

Columbus Crew -- $16,355,869-- 19 -- 34 -- $481,055

Orlando City -- $16,440,785-- 19 -- 33 -- $498,206

NYCFC -- $14,963,973-- 18 -- 28 -- $534,428

San Diego FC -- $20,033,029-- 19 -- 36 --$556,473

Austin FC -- $15,331,947-- 19 -- 26 -- $589,690

Colorado Rapids -- $15,482,331-- 19 -- 25 -- $619,293

Nashville SC -- $21,751,786 -- 19 -- 35 -- $621,480

FC Cincinnati -- $23,180,135-- 19 -- 36 -- $643,893

Portland Timbers -- $19,565,541-- 18 -- 30 -- $652,185

San Jose Earthquakes -- $17,190,978-- 19 -- 26 --$661,191

Houston Dynamo -- $13,414,691--19 --20 -- $670,735

Charlotte FC -- $17,133,985--19 -- 25 -- $685,359

Seattle Sounders -- $18,088,581-- 18 -- 26-- $695,715

Real Salt Lake -- $13,252,642-- 18 -- 18 -- $736,258

New England Revolution -- $17,194,922-- 17 -- 23 -- $747,605

New York Red Bulls -- $21,542,277-- 19 -- 28 --$769,367

DC United -- $14,616,314-- 19 -- 18 -- $812,017

Los Angeles FC -- $22,369,590 -- 16 -- 26 -- $860,369

Chicago Fire -- $22,052,757-- 18 -- 25 -- $882,110

FC Dallas -- $18,977,292-- 18 -- 21 --$903,681

Sporting KC -- $17,715,629 -- 19 -- 19 --$932,402

CF Montreal -- $11,993,946 -- 19 -- 11 -- $1,090,359

St. Louis City -- $18,088,581-- 19 -- 15 -- $1,205,905

Inter Miami CF -- $46,836,635 -- 16 -- 29 -- $1,615,056

Atlanta United -- $27,627,164-- 19 -- 17 -- $1,625,127

Toronto FC -- $34,146,193-- 18 -- 14 -- $2,439,014