THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
NEW YORK — David Beckham will earn 50 times Major League Soccer’s average salary this season, which has risen 12 per cent to US$129,395.
At $6.5 million, in guaranteed income, Beckham makes twice as much as the second-highest-paid player in the league, Chicago’s Cuauhtemoc Blanco ($2,666,778), according to figures released by the league’s players union. Beckham joined the Los Angeles Galaxy at mid-season last year and brought new attention to the league, which launched in 1996.
D.C. United’s Marcelo Gallardo was third at $1,874,006, followed by New York’s Juan Pablo Angel ($1,593,750) and Claudio Reyna ($1,265,000), and the Galaxy’s Landon Donovan ($900,000).
Toronto FC midfielder Carl Robinson is the highest paid player on the team at $330,000. Jeffrey Cunningham is next at $257,500.
Toronto’s Dwayne DeRosario, a star with the Houston Dynamo, earns $325,000.
Forty-six players earn the league minimum of $33,000. Among developmental players, 30 make $17,700 and 43 make $12,900.
The median salary — the point at which an equal amount make above and below — was $61,273 for the 333 players listed. That is up 16 per cent from last year’s median of $52,965.
Guaranteed income includes salaries and a prorated share of signing bonuses plus marketing bonuses payable in 2007. Beckham has a $5.5 million base salary.