Targeted Allocation Money. For those unaware, Targeted Allocation Money, more commonly referred to as TAM, is a mechanism used by Major League Soccer teams to acquire players with a significant salary demand while having them fit into the league’s $3.8 million salary cap structure. That cap is allotted to the team’s first 20 roster spots. While Designated Player player spots are given to up to three, high-dollar players per team (most notably Kaka, David Villa, and Bastian Schweinsteiger), TAM funds are in place to help teams acquire more players in the $500,000 to $1.5 million salary range, being used to “buy down” the player’s contract to better fit into the cap structure.
Rumor: Major League Soccer considers $2 million TAM increase for 2018
