NASHVILLE SC AND INTER MIAMI CF TO TAKE PART IN PRIORITY DRAFT THIS SUNDAY
NASHVILLE – Nashville Soccer Club’s MLS roster building process will take a significant step forward on Sunday, October 6 when the 2019 MLS Expansion Priority Draft takes place in New York.
The Priority Draft can be described as a “draft of drafts,” as Nashville SC and fellow 2020 expansion side Inter Miami CF will each select the ability to have priority in certain player acquisition methods, including the 2019 MLS Expansion Draft and 2020 MLS SuperDraft.
Here is all you need to know about Sunday’s proceedings and the player acquisition methods Nashville could utilize as it builds an MLS roster.
HOW IT WORKS
Sunday’s Expansion Priority Draft will take place during MLS’ Decision Day presented by AT&T Pregame Show starting at 2 p.m. CT. It will be live streamed on MLSSoccer.com, the MLS app, Twitter, Facebook and YouTube. Nashville SC will be represented at the Priority Draft by GM Mike Jacobs and CEO Ian Ayre.
The event will begin with a coin flip to determine who goes first. Then, the teams will alternate picks among the five player acquisition methods until all five have been chosen. The five player acquisition methods are as follows:
- No.1 pick in 2019 MLS Expansion Draft
- No.1 pick in 2020 MLS SuperDraft presented by Adidas
- No.1 position in Allocation Ranking Order
- Penultimate position in MLS Re-Entry and End-of-Year Waiver Order
- Penultimate position in Discovery Player Ranking
PLAYER ACQUISITION METHODS EXPLAINED
MLS EXPANSION DRAFT
The first player acquisition method available is the top pick in the 2019 MLS Expansion Draft, which will take place on Tuesday, November 19. The Expansion Draft will allow Nashville SC and Inter Miami CF to bolster their inaugural MLS rosters by selecting up to five current players from other MLS teams.
Each current MLS team may protect up to 12 rostered players from inclusion on the eligible players list. Certain categories of players are automatically protected from the expansion draft, including Homegrown players (players that have graduated from a club’s academy system). Clubs do not have to use protected slots on these players.
Five teams are exempt from having a player selected because each had lost a player last season to FC Cincinnati. Those five include D.C. United, Vancouver Whitecaps FC, FC Dallas, Houston Dynamo and New York Red Bulls. Only one player may be selected from any individual team. Nashville and Miami will alternate picks until each has selected up to five players.
The complete list of players left unprotected in the 2019 MLS Expansion Draft will be released on Saturday, November 16. Notable former Expansion Draft picks include LAFC’s Latif Blessing and Tyler Miller, as well as FC Cincinnati’s Darren Mattocks and Roland Lamah.
Click here for a full breakdown of the rules and procedures for the 2019 MLS Expansion Draft.
MLS SUPERDRAFT
The MLS SuperDraft is an annual player draft in which every MLS club has the chance to select some of the best collegiate soccer players in North America. Eligible players include graduating college seniors, as well as Generation Adidas players. Generation Adidas is a joint venture between MLS and U.S. Soccer that allows the best underclassmen in collegiate soccer and the U.S. developmental system to earn early SuperDraft eligibility. Many recent top picks in the SuperDraft have been Generation Adidas players, including 2019 top pick Frankie Amaya.
Nashville SC and Inter Miami CF will have the top two picks in the 2020 SuperDraft, with the order determined in the Priority Draft. The rest of the order will include teams that didn’t make the playoffs in reverse order of total standings points, followed by playoff teams eliminated in the same round of the playoffs in reverse order of total standings points. The SuperDraft lasts four rounds, and all draft picks are tradeable for other assets.
ALLOCATION RANKING ORDER
The Allocation Ranking Order is a mechanism used to determine which MLS club has priority in acquiring specific kinds of players, all found on the Allocation Ranking List. The list will consist of (i) select U.S. Men’s National Team players, (ii) elite youth U.S. National Team players, or (iii) former MLS players returning to MLS after joining a non-MLS club for a transfer fee greater than $500,000. Generally, the Allocation Ranking List will be updated once a year on the day after the conclusion of the MLS regular season. The Allocation Ranking List will only be edited during the year if a player is transferred out of the league or if a top youth national team player is added to the list.
Nashville SC and Inter Miami CF will have the top two spots in the Allocation Ranking Order, with the top spot determined by the Priority Draft. The rest of the order is set by taking the reverse order of the club’s standings at the end of each MLS Season, taking playoff performance into account.
Once the club uses its allocation ranking to acquire a player, it drops to the bottom of the list. A ranking can be traded, provided that part of the compensation received in return is the other club’s ranking. At all times, each club is assigned one ranking. The rankings reset at the end of each MLS League season.
MLS RE-ENTRY AND END-OF-YEAR WAIVER ORDER
The MLS Re-Entry Draft is a mechanism that allows clubs to select experienced MLS players that have not agreed to a new contract with their current club but wish to remain in the league. Eligible players include:
- Players who are at least 23 years old and have a minimum of three years of MLS experience whose contract options were not exercised by their clubs.
- Players who are at least 25 years old with a minimum of four years of MLS experience who are out of contract and whose club does not wish to re-sign them at their previous salary.
- Free Agents that choose to participate.
If a club picks a player in the Re-Entry Draft and the player rejects the offer, the drafting club will hold the player’s Right of First Refusal in MLS. That means any other MLS club interested in acquiring that player must first acquire his rights from the drafting club.
The order for the Re-Entry Draft is determined in the same fashion as the SuperDraft, but the two expansion clubs pick last. The Priority Draft will determine which expansion club gets the penultimate position.
The End-Of-Year Waiver Draft allows clubs to acquire players whose contracts are expiring, but do not meet the requirements for the Re-Entry Draft or Free Agency. This player pool primarily consists of younger players that are relatively new to MLS. The rules for the Waiver Draft are almost identical to the Re-Entry Draft, including the way the order is constructed. The Priority Draft will determine which expansion side gets the penultimate position.
DISCOVERY PLAYER RANKING
Every MLS club is entitled to place seven players that are not currently under contract in MLS and do not qualify for any other acquisition method on its Discovery List. A club may sign a player from its Discovery List if has been properly submitted to the league and there is no conflict between clubs attempting to add the same player to their lists.
If one or more clubs try to add the same player to their respective Discovery Lists, the club that filed the claim first will have the priority right to sign the player. If one or more clubs submit a discovery request on the same day, then the Discovery Player Ranking comes into play. The club with the lowest points-per-game in the MLS Regular Season will have the priority right to sign the player. Nashville SC and Inter Miami CF will occupy the last two spots in the Discovery Player Ranking, with the penultimate spot being decided in the Priority Draft.
Discovery Lists came into play when Nashville SC signed Hany Mukhtar as its first Designated Player. Mukhtar was originally on Seattle Sounders FC’s Discovery List, so Nashville SC acquired his Discovery Rights from Seattle in exchange for a sum of allocation money.
HOW IT'S BEEN DONE BEFORE
The most recent example of clubs navigating the Priority Draft process is Atlanta United and Minnesota United in 2016. Atlanta ended up with the top pick in the Expansion Draft and the top spot in the Allocation Order. The Five Stripes traded the top pick in the Expansion Draft, Donny Toia, for the eighth overall selection in the 2017 SuperDraft, which they used to select Julian Gressel. In addition, Atlanta used the top spot in the Allocation Order to sign star goalkeeper Brad Guzan.
Minnesota got the first pick in the SuperDraft and selected Abu Danladi, who scored eight goals in his first season. He finished as the runner-up in the Rookie of the Year race, losing to Atlanta's Julian Gressel.
Both Orlando City SC and New York City FC also navigated the Priority Draft in 2014. Despite missing out on the first pick in both the Expansion Draft and Super Draft, NYCFC used the top spot in the allocation order to sign USMNT regular Mix Diskerud, while also selecting Khiry Shelton with the second pick in the SuperDraft. Shelton is currently playing in the German Bundesliga with Paderborn.
Orlando signed veteran Brek Shea using its second spot in the Allocation Order. It also took Cyle Larin with the top pick in the 2015 SuperDraft, who went on to score 43 goals in more than 80 matches for Orlando before moving to Turkish giant Besiktas.
