Seattle Sounders Protest Tiny Share of Club World Cup Prize Money

Less than two weeks out from kickoff of the expanded FIFA Club World Cup, one MLS team took a stand for fair pay.

The Seattle Sounders, one of just three MLS teams in the upcoming U.S.-based tournament, wore pregame shirts reading “Club World Ca$h Grab” with an image of Mr. Monopoly wearing an “MLS” hat holding a “FIFA” money bag, with “Fair Share Now” on the back.

The protest reflects the massive increase in prize money for FIFA’s previously minor tournament, which is expanding from seven to 32 teams this year. The total purse is $1 billion, with North American teams receiving $9.55 million each for participation.

The players, however, are only set to receive a small piece of that pie. The MLS Players Association says the league and owners have held up an “out-of-date” part of the 2021-ratified collective bargaining agreement that says teams must share no more than $1 million with its players. That means players would split around one-tenth of the club’s entry prize, and receive no additional winnings if they advance in the tournament.

In the group stage, teams earn $2 million for a win and $1 million for a draw. Prizes continue to grow throughout the knockout round, and the winning club will walk away with $125 million. (Real Madrid has said each of its players will get a bonus of roughly $1.1 million if the squad wins the tournament.) Along with the Sounders, Los Angeles FC and Lionel Messi’s Inter Miami are competing in the tournament, which will air on TNT Sports and DAZN.

The MLSPA released a statement Sunday saying “all MLS players stand united” with the Sounders. The union said the upcoming tournament “piles on to players’ ever-increasing workload without regard to their physical well-being,” and that MLS has “refused to allocate a fair percentage” of Club World Cup prize money to players. The account also posted a photo of the Sounders squad posing in their shirts.

“For months, the players have privately and respectfully invited the league to discuss bonus terms, yet MLS has failed to bring forward a reasonable proposal,” the statement read. “Instead of recognizing the players who have brought MLS to the global stage, the league—which routinely asks the PA to deviate from the CBA—is clinging to an out-of-date CBA provision and ignoring longstanding international standards on what players typically receive from FIFA prize money in global competitions.”

Representatives from FIFA were in Seattle Sunday for the Club World Cup trophy tour. The tournament begins June 14 in Miami.

When the CBA initially ratified the agreement in 2021, no one would have imagined the Club World Cup could have brought in the sort of financial windfall for MLS teams it is now. FIFA first announced the significant expansion of the tournament in December 2022, and revealed the 10-figure purse this March. The Sounders were the first ever U.S. team to play in the Club World Cup during its last edition, which was called the 2022 tournament but played in February 2023; they lost in the second round.

An MLS spokesperson declined to comment.

FIFA has received backlash for beefing up the Club World Cup amid an already overloaded soccer calendar. Next summer’s World Cup, also hosted by the U.S., is growing from 32 teams to 48, increasing the number of matches from 64 to 104. The UEFA Champions League also grew this year, and the Concacaf Gold Cup, which features national rather than club teams, is happening this summer at the same time as the Club World Cup.

Messi sat out Inter Miami’s second MLS match of the season in March because he had already played three matches in seven days thanks to the Concacaf Champions Cup. That tournament also wrapped Sunday, with MLS’s Vancouver Whitecaps falling to LIGA MX’s Cruz Azul.