The Union Had the Lowest Payroll in MLS in April. Since the World Cup Break They've Been the Best Team.

The window is every MLS league match from June 1 through Oct. 28, 2026, in Eastern time. MLS played none in June, so for the Union that is 17 matches, July 22 through Oct. 28. Results and standings are from ESPN's MLS data, checked against MLSsoccer.com's playoff-clinch report. Payroll is guaranteed compensation from the MLS Players Association guide to contracts as of April 16. That is not salary-cap charge, and it leaves out transfer fees. Opinion is labeled as opinion.

The Union have the best record in MLS since the World Cup break and had the worst one before it. This piece asks two things. Does the 17-match run erase the 15 bad matches before it, and can it last?

The run first. Twelve wins, four draws, one loss. Forty points in 17 matches, 2.35 a game, with 44 goals for and 20 against. Nobody in the league has more points.

Nashville is next. Counted from June 1, the Shield winners have 38 points in 18 matches. Counted from the Union's first match back on July 22, they have 35 in 17, five behind, which matches what CBS Sports reported. Calling it "since June" would be wrong, because there was no June. The league restarted July 16. I counted everything from June 1 so nobody can say I picked a flattering start, and the last match in the window is Wednesday's 0-0 draw at Nashville.

Now the 15 matches before it. At the break the Union had one win, four draws and ten losses. Seven points, 0.47 a game, 30th out of 30.

The run did not erase them. Seven points plus 40 is 47 points from 32 matches, which is 11th in the league, tied with LAFC, and sixth in the East. The Union did not clinch a playoff spot until Wednesday. The run bought a place in the playoffs. It did not buy a season-long record better than 11th.

Can it last? The facts in hand point three ways.

The first is where the goals come from. On the season, Milan Iloski has 19 goals on $628,194. Bruno Damiani has 12 on $847,600. Cavan Sullivan is 17, has seven goals and is on $614,000. That is $2,089,794 for 38 of the Union's 62 goals. These are season totals, so they do not isolate the run, but they show how much of the scoring sits on three players.

The second is who may leave. Sullivan is set to join Manchester City when he turns 18, according to CBS, and Reuters reported in 2024 that the Union would receive up to $5 million. Whether any of that reaches the 2027 roster is a question for the front office. I couldn't find anything public that answers it.

The third is that nobody can say what changed. Bradley Carnell was fired on May 27 and Ryan Richter took over as interim head coach. Kai Wagner came back in July as a designated player, and I couldn't find his salary published anywhere. Players left too: Olivier Mbaizo was waived June 17, Olwethu Makhanya was sold and others went out on loan. CBS's Chuck Booth credits tactical adjustments and a youth movement. In the same stretch the Union went from 1.20 goals a game to 2.59, and from 2.00 allowed to 1.18, by my math. That is a big swing over 17 matches. My opinion, labeled: I would want a second stretch of matches before calling it a new level, because 17 matches shows a run and not yet a level.

Payroll is the other story people will tell, so here is what it can and cannot explain. The MLSPA's guide has 32 Union players at $11,696,829 in guaranteed compensation, the lowest of 30 clubs in the April 16 guide and, the Inquirer reported, a first for the club. The AP and the Inquirer both published the club totals, and I added up all 30 rosters myself and got the same order. Sporting Kansas City is second at $12,359,396. The league average is $20.8 million. Inter Miami is at $54.6 million, and Lionel Messi alone is $28,333,333 in guaranteed compensation.

That same lowest April payroll came with the worst record in the league. Payroll can't explain why they flipped, because it was the same number before and after. The Inquirer's Owen Hewitt asked in May how much of the early mess the payroll deserved. I ran a gut check, with the warning that it's one season and 30 teams. Rank every club by April payroll and by points per game since the break and the rank correlation is 0.08. That pairs April payroll with post-break points, so clubs that spent after April are measured at their old payroll. Before the break it was 0.36, a modest pull. Over the full season it's 0.21. Nashville has 71 points and clinched the Supporters' Shield last Saturday with the eighth-highest payroll in MLS, about $23.0 million. The April payroll is also no longer the current payroll, since Wagner arrived and others left, and nobody can say who is cheapest now until the next guide.

What would show the run is real: the Union holding close to 2.35 points a game over a second stretch of matches, with the goals coming from more than the same three players. What would show payroll explains more than I'm giving it credit for: if the fall guide shows the Union's payroll jumped after April and the run tracks it, or if the two lowest-paid clubs keep landing at opposite ends of the table.