Inter Miami’s Lionel Messi earned more than the entire payrolls of 22 other Major League Soccer teams, and Olivier Giroud has $3,675,000 in annualized total compensation under the contract he signed to join Los Angeles FC in July. The Major League Soccer Players Association released its salary update on Thursday and Messi’s $12m base salary and $20.4m in total compensation from Inter Miami remained the same as in the initial listing in May. Those figures cover the amount Messi receives from his MLS deal, which runs through the 2025 season, including any marketing bonus and agent’s fees. They do not account for any additional agreements with the team or its affiliates, or for any performance bonuses. Messi gets a portion of the league’s deal with Apple TV, which is understood to bring in about $50m for the Argentinian. Messi’s Miami, the league’s regular-season Supporters Shield champion, led the league with a record $41.7m payroll, double all but Toronto ($31.8m), Los Angeles FC ($22.1m), the LA Galaxy ($22m) and Nashville ($21.9m). Players on Cincinnati ($21m) and Houston ($20.5m) also totaled more than Messi. Montreal ($11.4m), Philadelphia ($13.8m) and Colorado ($14.4m) are among the lowest payrolls. Messi’s teammate Sergio Busquets is second in the league in salary at $8.5m and has $8.8m in total compensation. Toronto winger Lorenzo Insigne has a $7.5m salary and $15.4m in total compensation. Some players still earned good salaries despite not taking the field. Former New England forward Jozy Altidore was listed as an MLS pool player at $1.7m in salary and $2.2m in total compensation. Former USMNT captain Michael Bradley, who last played in MLS in 2023, was listed as retired with pay and total compensation of $725,000. Overall, the mean MLS salary rose 9.7% in the last year. The median guaranteed MLS salary is now $308,375.