Hello and welcome to Soccer 101.

My name is Daryl Grove and this is a special shorter solo edition of Soccer 101

in which I plan to answer a major league soccer question.

We get asked all the time.

What is Gam and what is Tam?

And thank you, ma'am, for asking.

First, let's explain the acronyms.

Gam is GAM for general allocation money. Tam is TAM for targeted allocation money.

Now, what in the name of Don Garber's shiny head does that mean?

Well, let's start with the foundation and we'll build from there.

Because every MLS roster starts with a basic salary budget,

or if you prefer a salary cap.

To give you a number to work with in 2020,

under the new collective bargaining agreement,

we think the basic salary budget is going to be $4.9 million.

That money is spread among the players,

some of whom will then rent modest one-bedroom apartments

maybe two bedrooms with a roommate now gam general allocation money is an extra stash of cash

that you can add to that salary budget pile and pay the players a little more in 2020 we think

each team is getting around 1.55 million in Gam from the league.

So at its most basic and most easily understandable, Gam, general allocation money, is just

extra salary budget. If that's all you want to know, then you're good. Take that knowledge,

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