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Homegrown Player Rule (MLS)
Major League Soccer recruitment program From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
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The Homegrown Player Rule is a Major League Soccer program that allows MLS teams to sign local players from their own development academies directly to MLS first-team rosters. Before the creation of the rule in 2008,[1] every player entering Major League Soccer would have to be assigned through one of the existing MLS player allocation processes, such as the MLS SuperDraft.
MLS roster rules allow a team to sign players to contracts similar to Generation Adidas contracts,[2] which do not count against the MLS salary budget and may earn a much higher salary than the league minimum. MLS has since removed this wording from the roster rules.[3] That means homegrown players will not count against the salary budget only if they are registered using supplemental roster slots, but will still count against the salary budget if they are registered using senior roster slots. There is, however, a supplementary salary budget made by MLS only for homegrown players that are registered using senior roster slots called homegrown player funds.[4]
To place a player on its homegrown player list, making him eligible to sign as a homegrown player, players must have resided in that club's home territory and participated in the club's youth development system for at least one year, as well as meeting other unspecified league requirements.[5] The restrictions for homegrown players were modified in 2022 to allow clubs to prioritize signing rights of nine non-academy players within their territory. Non-protected players were then allowed to sign with any MLS club without requiring compensation to be paid to another team.[6]
If a player on a team's homegrown list goes to college or U17, U20, and U23 United States men's national soccer teams, he remains eligible to sign as a homegrown player at any time as long as he is registered with the club as a homegrown player first.[7] Since the program's inception, some players have elected to skip years in college to play in MLS academies and sign with senior clubs.[8]
In 2014, Seattle's DeAndre Yedlin became the first MLS homegrown player to compete in a World Cup.[9]
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Homegrown territories
As of 2024[update], the homegrown territories for most MLS clubs is defined as a 75-mile (121 km) radius around the team's home stadium, with some exceptions when another team is nearby. Certain teams are also granted entire states or portions of adjacent states. San Diego FC is allowed to claim players from Mexico within a driving distance of 62.1-mile (99.9 km) from their training facility.[10]
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Homegrown players history
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Notes
- This list only includes players who were fully eligible to be a homegrown player and officially signed a homegrown player contract with MLS. This is not a list of academy players for each respective MLS team.
- Players with their names in Bold have received a full international cap.
- Former MLS sides Miami Fusion and Tampa Bay Mutiny were dissolved before the introduction of the homegrown player rule.
- The following list of players have been reported as or claimed to be homegrown players, but never officially signed a homegrown player contract identifying them as such for MLS roster rule purposes; Julián Araujo, Freddie Braun, Eduardo Cortes, Kyle Duncan, Raheem Edwards, Steven Emory, Jake LaCava, Chris Lema, Nico Lemoine, Pierre da Silva, and Zack Steffen.
- Nizar Khalfan was classified as a homegrown player, despite never been part of the Vancouver Whitecaps academy.
Atlanta United FC
Austin FC
Charlotte FC
Chicago Fire FC
Chivas USA (defunct)
FC Cincinnati
Colorado Rapids
Columbus Crew
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FC Dallas
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D.C. United
Houston Dynamo FC
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Sporting Kansas City
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LA Galaxy
Los Angeles FC
Inter Miami CF
Minnesota United FC
CF Montréal
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Nashville SC
New England Revolution
New York City FC
New York Red Bulls
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Orlando City SC
Philadelphia Union
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Portland Timbers
Real Salt Lake
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San Diego FC
San Jose Earthquakes
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Seattle Sounders FC
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St. Louis City SC
Toronto FC
Vancouver Whitecaps FC
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Notes
- ^ Homegrown rights acquired from another team.
- ^ Homegrown rights acquired from Atlanta United FC
- ^ Homegrown rights acquired from the Chicago Fire FC
- ^ Homegrown rights acquired from Dallas
- ^ Homegrown rights acquired from D.C. United
- ^ Homegrown rights acquired from the LA Galaxy
- ^ Homegrown rights acquired from Minnesota United FC
- ^ Homegrown rights acquired from New York City FC
- ^ Homegrown rights acquired from the Philadelphia Union
- ^ Homegrown rights acquired from the New England Revolution
- ^ Homegrown rights acquired from the New York Red Bulls
- ^ Homegrown rights acquired from Real Salt Lake
- ^ Homegrown rights acquired from the Seattle Sounders FC
- ^ Homegrown rights acquired from the San Jose Earthquakes
- ^ Homegrown rights acquired from Toronto FC
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Records
The following table shows the leading home grown player goal scorer by season. It also shows which club the player was with in that season, as well as the player's age at the end of that season.
References
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