Depending on who you talk to, it was either a relaxing of the rules that enforce parity or another laughing-stock example of why the league remains the subject of parody.

On Friday, Major League Soccer announced it would be changing the terms surrounding the use of its designated player slot — colloquially called the David Beckham Rule — which allows clubs to pay a single player any amount, with only a certain portion counting against the team’s salary cap.

Under the new rules, each club can now have as many as three designated players, and only $335,000  (previously $450,000) will count against the salary cap. Also, teams signing DPs mid-season will only face a $167,000 cap hit.

During a teleconference  announcing the change, Todd Durbin, executive vice-president of player relations and competition, explained the move as a way to loosen the reins on spending in MLS while still maintaining “a league that gives every team the opportunity to be successful.”

“It’s supposed to allow teams that want to go out and sign high-profile players the opportunity to be successful,” Durbin said. 

“But at the same time, we made sure it’s calibrated in a way that teams that don’t want to go out and sign designated players also have the opportunity to be successful.”

It’s a move the league is banking on to increase the overall exposure for MLS, quality of play and competition among its clubs. 

So what’s wrong with that?

A lot, if you look closer.

While the league could have 16 designated players right now (one per team), only five teams actually have one. So for the league to herald this rule change as a major shift in policy is a little misleading.

And if we are to believe that this relaxing of the rules will spur clubs to charge out and sign the likes of Thierry Henry and Raul (long rumoured to be headed to New York) then it brings up another question — what will the teams look like when more than $1 million of their $2.55-million salary cap is tied up in three players?

“Thin” is a word that comes to mind. MLS already struggles to attract and retain good, emerging talent. Leaving the remaining 21 players to fight over a very small pie doesn’t bode well for improving the overall level of play.

So, why not just increase the salary cap further?

To be blunt, there are a lot of poor teams in MLS. Most couldn’t afford an increase.

But if the league was serious about increasing the quality of play and promoting real competition amongst its teams, it would have dropped the cap hit clubs now incur from a designated player altogether, allowing for greater wealth distribution to the rest of the roster, to help keep those mid-range and emerging players.

With this move, MLS isn’t signalling it’s really serious about competition or quality of play — just serious about having more marketable faces.

– Watch Ben Rycroft on the It’s Called Football show every Sunday at www.metronews.ca;
ben.rycroft@metronews.ca.