Points Per Million: Every MLS club by table position vs payroll

Now that the final Supporters' Shield table for the 2025 Major League Soccer is in the books, the quants here at Hudson River Blue decided to look at how much each club spent for every point earned.

Call it Points Per Million, or PPM. It's a simple ratio: You divide the number of points a team earned by the total payroll of the squad. Basically, the PPM shows us which teams are the best – and worst – bargains in MLS. The higher the PPM, the better.

Points Per Million | 2025 MLS Regular Season

	Team	Points	Payroll	PPM
1.	Philadelphia Union*	66	$13,365,549	4.94
2.	Minnesota United*	58	$13,804,472	4.20
3.	Vancouver Whitecaps*	63	$15,809,224	3.99
4.	New York City FC*	56	$14,963,973	3.74
5.	Charlotte FC*	59	$17,133,985	3.44
6.	Columbus Crew*	54	$16,355,869	3.30
7.	Orlando City*	53	$16,440,785	3.22
8.	San Diego FC*	63	$20,033,029	3.14
9.	Austin FC*	47	$15,331,947	3.07
10.	Real Salt Lake*	41	$13,413,886	3.06
11.	Seattle Sounders*	55	$18,088,581	3.04
12.	FC Cincinnati*	65	$23,180,135	2.80
13.	Houston Dynamo	37	$13,414,691	2.76
14.	LAFC*	60	$22,369,590	2.68
15.	Colorado Rapids	41	$15,482,331	2.65
16.	Nashville SC*	54	$21,751,786	2.48
17.	Chicago Fire*	53	$22,052,757	2.40
18.	San Jose Earthquakes	41	$17,190,978	2.39
19.	CF Montréal	28	$11,993,946	2.33
20.	Dallas FC*	44	$18,977,292	2.32
21.	Portland Timbers*	44	$19,565,541	2.25
22.	New England	36	$17,194,922	2.09
23.	NY Red Bulls	43	$21,542,277	2.00
24.	DC United	26	$14,616,314	1.78
25.	St Louis City	32	$18,106,711	1.77
26.	Sporting Kansas City	28	$17,715,629	1.58
27.	Inter Miami*	65	$46,836,635	1.33
28.	LA Galaxy	30	$22,870,938	1.31
29.	Atlanta United	28	$27,627,164	1.01
30.	Toronto FC	32	$34,146,193	0.94
	Average		$19,379,238	2.60

* Made 2025 MLS Cup Playoffs

There are two flaws with this system, and both relate to the imprecise financial disclosures released by the Major League Soccer Player’s Association twice per season. We get into them at the end of this post.

Still, the numbers are a good indicator of which clubs did smart business this year.

For example, Philadelphia Union unquestionably deserve to be at the top of the league with a 4.94 PPM. The Supporters's Shield winners took 66 points despite shedding some of their highest-paid players, and despite carrying a payroll of just $13.4 million. That's the second-lowest in MLS — only CF Montréal's $12 million payroll is smaller.

Other high-performing teams with bargain-basement payrolls include Minnesota United (4.20 PPM), Vancouver Whitecaps (3.99 PPM), New York City FC (3.74 PPM), and Charlotte FC (3.44 PPM).

Just as notable are the teams at the bottom of the league, such as Toronto FC (0.94 PPM), Atlanta United (1.01 PPM), and LA Galaxy (1.31 PPM). DC United might have won the Wooden Spoon after finishing last in the Supporters' Shield table with just 26 points, but their 1.78 PPM puts them at a slightly more respectable 24th Place, just ahead of St. Louis City and their 1.77 PPM.

And it puts them well above Inter Miami in 27th Place, whose 1.33 PPM is the lowest for any playoff-bound team. They might have come in 3rd Place in the Supporters' Shield table with 65 points, but they paid $46.8 million to get there. That 1.33 PPM is scarcely better than the 1.31 PPM that LA Galaxy earned after staggering through a deeply disappointing season.

Can money buy success? Fans of Inter Miami will tell you yes. But fans of Toronto FC and Atlanta United will tell you no — and the fans of overachieving teams such as Philadelphia, Minnesota, and Vancouver will be too busy following their teams as they try to advance through the playoffs to care.

The flaws of PPM

First, the figures above are based on the salaries the MLSPA released in June, and only reflect players under contract as of May 23, 2025. That means the payrolls don't reflect the salaries of players signed or released in the Summer transfer window. For example, LAFC's $22,369,590 payroll doesn't reflect the addition of Son Heung-Min in August, and the rumored $13 million he makes every year. At the same time, Toronto's $34,146,193 payroll still carries the combined $21.7 million paid to Lorenzo Insigne and Federico Bernardeschi, both of whom left on July 1.