The 2019 Salary Guide contains salary information for all MLS players under contract as of September 13th, 2019. In the Guide, player salaries are broken down into two numbers:

Current Annualized Base Salary Annualized Average Guaranteed Compensation

The Annual Average Guaranteed Compensation (Guaranteed Comp) number includes a player's base salary and all signing and guaranteed bonuses annualized over the term of the player's contract, including option years.

For example, a player earning an annual base salary of $500,000, whose contract has an initial term of two years with two one-year options and received a $100,000 signing bonus, his average annual guaranteed compensation would be $525,000 (base salary plus signing bonus ($100,000), with the signing bonus divided by the number of years covered by the contract (4)).

The Average Annual Guaranteed Compensation figure also includes any marketing bonus and any agent's fees, both annualized over the term of the contract. The Average Annual Guaranteed Compensation figure does not include Performance Bonuses because there is no guarantee that the player will hit those bonuses.

These figures include compensation from each player's contract with MLS. They do not include any compensation from any contracts with individual teams or their affiliates.