In December, it seemed like all the talk about the 2024 US Open Cup would revolve around the usual themes: concerns, heroes and the status of the nation’s oldest knockout soccer competition.
Instead, January and February have seen Major League Soccer and the United States Soccer Federation engaged in a second wave of talks over how, if at all, the men’s top-flight league will participate.
Initially, MLS had sought to replace its first teams with its development sides from the third tier MLS Next Pro. After days of backlash from soccer media and fans, US Soccer refused to grant MLS an exemption to execute such a plan.
A day after the federation rejected the MLS proposal, the European Court of Justice in Luxembourg ruled in favor of the Super League, a 2021 project concocted by owners of Europe’s richest and most prominent clubs looking to break away from their domestic leagues. The decision set a precedent that revived the hopes of some MLS owners to walk away from the US Open Cup to prioritize other competitions.
So where does that leave the US Open Cup? And what does a ruling in a European court have to do with America’s oldest soccer tournament?
What is the issue?
Publicly, MLS has cited concerns about overcrowding as a key part of its decision to change its participation. In 2023, Los Angeles FC set a new record by playing in 53 competitive games in a calendar year, traveling nearly 63,000 miles.
MLS has also seen the US Open Cup as a chance to give its Next Pro development teams access to top-level competitive matches, given the stakes of a knockout tournament against teams at different levels of the pyramid.
MLS commissioner Don Garber said in May that the US Open Cup games are not “where we would like our product to be exposed to a large audience.”
He added: “We have to improve with the US Open. It’s just not a true reflection of what soccer in America should be at the professional level.”
On Wednesday during the 2024 MLS season opener, he said: “We will continue to do what we can to support the US Open Cup, but we will not do it in a way that the entire responsibility for the operation of this tournament is on Major League Soccer.
“This needs the support of our federation, they have pledged to show more support for this. It has to make more sense for our players and for our clubs. At this point, we are subsidizing that tour.”
One source, who has been part of the ongoing planning talks, praised the increased efforts made by the federation towards improving the commercial viability of the US Open Cup, complete with an improved broadcast plan that is not not yet announced due to format status. being in oblivion. As a federation-run tournament, the Open Cup will not be subject to any agreement between MLS and its broadcast partners, chief among them Apple.
When US Soccer denied the league’s request on Dec. 20, however, it appeared MLS’ plan to use the tournament as a development tool for its Next Pro teams would not move forward. The next day, the landscape of the sport was changed again an ocean away.
Why is the Superliga decision important?
On December 21, the European Court of Justice made a historic decision soccer’s world governing body FIFA and European equivalent UEFA Rules blocking a potential European Super League were “illegal”.
“FIFA and UEFA rules subjecting any new interclub football project, such as the Super League, to prior approval, and banning clubs and players from playing in those competitions, are illegal,” the CJEU added.
Manchester United fans protest after their team was signed to the Europa League in April 2021 (Oli Scarff/AFP via Getty Images)
The decision galvanized the most staunch supporters of the Super League, mainly Real Madrid and Barcelona. Inside the state, sources say Athletics, it gave MLS owners and their lawyers a precedent that governing bodies—including national federations—could not have complete control over the competitions in which clubs participate. In the week that followed, that point was raised at US Soccer, according to sources. The federation was left wondering if it wanted to quarrel with MLS over its participation in the US Open Cup.
“We’re really disappointed in the federation that we didn’t show stronger leadership in this situation,” USL president Paul McDonough told Yahoo Sports on Wednesday. “Although none of (our teams) are happy, they understand the importance of the Cup. But it is difficult when you believe that you are put in a situation that is not good – he let your emotions run wild? Or do you learn, discuss and then make the best decisions for yourself and for the collective?”
Why is this important?
First played in 1914, the Lamar Hunt US Open Cup is the oldest ongoing competition in American soccer. In its current form, the tournament pits around 100 professional and amateur teams from around the country against each other in a single-elimination tournament.
Like FA Cup in England and the NCAA tournament in college basketball, the main appeal of the Open Cup is the potential for a massive upset. In recent years, teams from this country’s lower leagues, most commonly the USL, have regularly beaten MLS teams in Open Cup games.
These matches are particularly notable because American soccer does not use promotion and relegation for its club teams: the Open Cup is the only context in which an MLS team will meet a lower league team in a competitive match.
MLS teams have largely dominated the later rounds of the competition since the league joined the Open Cup in 1996. No lower division team has won the tournament since the Rochester Raging Rhinos lifted the Cup in 1999, with only two non-MLS teams making the final this millennium: 2008 Charleston Battery and 2022 Sacramento Republic.
The Lamar Hunt US Open Cup trophy on display in September (Hector Vivas/Getty Images)
The tournament is an important revenue stream for amateur and junior clubs in the United States. Open Cup matches against MLS teams are often a massive draw for these clubs, and the crowds for these matches can be significantly larger than those present at day-to-day games.
However, the tournament has struggled to gain traction among MLS fans, many of whom do not place the same importance on Open Cup matches as they do on league matches. MLS teams often host Open Cup matches in smaller venues and in front of much smaller crowds.
What is expected next?
A source expected the final 2024 format could be announced as early as next week. It was reported that only eight MLS teams would participate.
Initially, this year’s field was expected to be made up the same way as countless previous installments – the 2023 tournament included 99 teams after preliminary qualifying rounds. Currently, there are 68 confirmed participants for 2024, and MLS is not the only league that has not submitted its official list of participating clubs.
The first round is scheduled to start on March 19. All 32 teams are amateur qualifiers operating outside the three professional sanctioned levels of the US Soccer pyramid. This includes 11 local qualifiers, the National Amateur Cup champion, the UPSL Spring Champion and eight teams from the National Football League.
The final 11 first-round participants — meaning those from USL League Two — were thought to be in limbo until Wednesday, when the USL informed US Soccer that all of its eligible clubs would participate in the tournament. This includes the 24 members of the second division USL Championship, as well as the 12 teams playing in the third division USL League One.
MLS makes up most of the remaining tournament field, with 26 teams based in the United States. Its third division development league, MLS Next Pro, will have at least two teams (its independent teams Carolina Core FC and Chattanooga FC) field, with the league’s other teams all members of the first teams of MLS and therefore ineligible unless US Soccer allows organizations to exchange which team enters. It is also unclear how many clubs from the third division National Independent Football Association will be able to play.
Clubs in the second and third divisions enter the tournament in its second round.
(Feature photo: Jason Allen/ISI Photos/Getty Images)
