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The Designated Player Rule, also known as the Beckham Rule, is the name used for a rule change in the salary cap regulations of Major League Soccer (MLS) in North America, implemented for the 2007 season. The rule allows each of the MLS franchises to sign one player that would be considered outside of the teams' salary cap, allowing U.S. and Canadian teams to compete for star players in the international soccer market.

The salary cap is estimated to be around US$1.9 million ^[1] in 2006 (and the amount will be raised for the 2007 season). Under the rule:

• For each such designated player, $400,000 would be initially charged to the salary cap, with any remaining salary toward the player being imposed on the individual owner.
• There are four players who currently have a salary exceeding $400,000. According to the rule, they will be grandfathered in for the 2007 season. After that, either they would be considered a designated player, or their contract would need to be renegotiated. These players include Landon Donovan, Freddy Adu, Carlos Ruiz and Eddie Johnson.
• There will initially be one designated player slot available to each team in the league. A team can trade their designated player slot; however, no team can have more than two.
• If a team uses both of their slots, $325,000 will be counted towards the salary cap for the second player.

The rule will apply for three years, until the end of the 2009 MLS season, when its future will be reviewed.

It is informally named after soccer star David Beckham, in anticipation of MLS teams signing lucrative deals with internationally recognized players of Beckham's caliber.^[2] As it turned out, Beckham was indeed the first player to be signed under this rule, signing a lucrative contract with the Los Angeles Galaxy for $50 million in direct salary and a possibility of over $250 million total for five years.^[3]

The "marquee player" system in place in the Australian A-League is very similar to the Designated Player Rule.

Contents 1 Current Designated Players 2 See also 3 References 4 External links

• David Beckham, Los Angeles Galaxy
• Claudio Reyna, New York Red Bulls
• Cuauhtémoc Blanco, Chicago Fire

• Chivas USA traded their slot for 2007 to the New York Red Bulls for Amado Guevara.
• The New York Red Bulls are the only team in MLS to possess two designated player slots.

• Allocation (MLS)

1. ^ Palencia Has Richest MLS Salary - Steven Goff, Washington Post, April 27, 2006
2. ^ Becks could be the next American idol - Pete Lansley, The Telegraph, April 13, 2006
3. ^ Beckham hopes to make US history

• Designated Player Rule passed