As part of a series of moves to slowly but surely peel open the curtain on the league’s opaque salary cap structure, MLS has begun releasing the amount of General Allocation Money (GAM) in each team’s coffers several times a year.

In the most recent release that came out today, the Chicago Fire have $11,689 in available GAM. That number is the second-lowest total in the league after FC Cincinnati and the Portland Timbers, both of whom have $0 available.

Here is what that means for the Fire.

What is GAM?

MLS has a complex salary cap structure. There is a nominal cap – $5.95 million in 2025 – but most teams effectively spend multiples of that number. Some of that spending is via special roster designations – the best known of which is Designated Players (DPs), whom teams can pay an unlimited amount but who have a fixed, much smaller cap hit. Lionel Messi, for example, is earning over $20 million.

For other players, however, teams can “buy down” their cap hit using allocation money. GAM is one of two forms of allocation money, the other being Targeted Allocation Money (TAM). The use of TAM is more heavily restricted in its use than GAM, but both essentially work like discount codes or coupons to reduce a player’s cap hit (which includes their wages, and automatic bonuses, like a signing bonus, as well as acquisition costs like transfer fees, but not performance bonuses).

If a player’s cap hit would be $500,000 per year, for example, a team can lower that to $300,000 by using $200,000 in GAM.

GAM can be traded between clubs, for example, for international slots or for players, and GAM can be generated by player sales abroad.

What is included in the Fire’s GAM amount?

The amounts released by the league include all “unspent” GAM acquired in the 2025 year that carries forward to next year.

When the Fire selected a roster model with two DPs and four Under 22 Initiative (U22) players for the 2025 season, they received $2 million in GAM for the season. Any unused amounts from that $2 million are not included in the $11,689 figure released by the league, as that effectively has “expired.”

Other GAM, however, has not expired and will carry forward to next year – that is what is included in the Fire’s total.

MIR97 Media has confirmed that the figure also does not include the reported $2 million the team received for the sale of defender Carlos Terán, which, per the structure of the contract, will become GAM available for the Fire in 2026.

What does this mean for the Fire’s roster this year?

When Gregg Berhalter took over the Fire’s front office at the end of 2024,, he inherited a roster that had the second-worst record in MLS that season. He and the team’s front office staff worked to significantly revamp the team for this year, ultimately turning over about half of the team’s roster.

That came with a price, however: The team spent towards the top of the salary cap in previous seasons, and unlike prior years, the team did not have a significant player sale in 2024 to net new GAM.

That the team’s cache of GAM is so close to zero suggests that the front office spent virtually every available dollar on improving the team in 2025.

So far, the changes have turned out to be improvements: The team has 57 goals, tied for third most in the 30 team league, and 45 points . That point total is 50% higher than the 30 points the team netted all of last season, and the Fire have four regular season games left to play. It is also the most points the team has had since the 2017 year, the last time that the Fire made the postseason.

What does this tell us about the Fire’s roster for next year?

The GAM totals reported by the league are accurate as of September 18th, and although the figures won’t have changed much, teams can use GAM for signing bonuses. That means that although the new contract hits for players like Chris Mueller, announced this week, it is possible that some of the signing bonuses for players given new deals before that date – that would be the homegrowns Chris Brady, Sergio Oregel and Mauricio Pineda – could have been paid off using some of that allocation money (or the now-”expired” 2025 GAM).

As the GAM “rolls over,” it does, however, mean that the Fire will have less GAM available than some other teams at the start of next year – Minnesota United, for example, have just shy of $5 million in available GAM, and will receive millions more (along with every other MLS team) next year.

The Fire will, however, receive both that base allocation of GAM as well as the net proceeds from Carlos Terán’s move to Brazil this summer.

The Fire could generate additional GAM with player sales or trades, but the need to use every means possible to rework the roster this year will continue to have an impact on the team in future seasons – although the most difficult maneuvering for the Fire’s cap situation is now in the rear view mirror.