Preliminary plans for the 2024 edition of the U.S. Open Cup have been approved by a subcommittee of the U.S. Soccer Federation's board of directors, although the tournament likely won't resemble recent editions, he told ESPN a source close to the USSF.
The source indicated that all the details are still being worked out, but the decision was made to have a tournament in 2024 and what will likely get final approval is a type of hybrid tournament in which not all MLS teams will participate. The precise level of participation by MLS and USL teams is yet to be determined.
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The source added that the plan calls for the federation to make the largest financial investment ever to alleviate the cost of travel and help with promotion, especially for lower division teams.
The source also indicated that this format would only be for 2024, and there are ongoing discussions with all interested parties on how to work collaboratively to find a permanent long-term format for the tournament.
The future of the tournament, whose first edition was completed in 1914, has been in doubt since MLS announced in December that its first teams would not participate in the competition and that MLS Next Pro teams would take their place.
In an interview with ESPN late last week, MLS commissioner Don Garber said of the Open Cup: “Everyone in the soccer business [needs] “Rethink how competitions have been organized to ensure we can continue to evolve and manage what is the biggest problem in all of professional football: managing our calendar.”
While the MLS schedule has become busier in recent years, part of that is the league's own doing with the creation of the Leagues Cup in collaboration with Liga MX.
MLS' non-participation announcement appeared to be at odds with the USSF Professional League Standards, designed to set minimum standards for elements such as minimum owner finances, stadium capacity and market size.
League standards state that teams in a top-tier outdoor league “must participate in all US Soccer and CONCACAF representative competitions for which they are eligible.”
The USL declined to comment on the most recent news, but on December 20 responded by stating via X, formerly known as Twitter, that “United Soccer League clubs have competed in the Lamar Hunt US Open Cup for almost 30 years, including 46 USL clubs in the 2023 edition. We believe the Open Cup is a historic and integral part of American soccer culture.
“We support fans across the country who want it to remain an authentic and inclusive competition. Regarding the future of the Open Cup, we will continue to work with our owners and US Soccer on what the tournament will look like in the future.”
Five days after the MLS statement, the USSF announced: “Major League Soccer has requested to allow MLS Next Pro teams to represent MLS in the 2024 Lamar Hunt US Open Cup. After careful consideration “We have informed MLS that the recommendation of US Soccer staff, which was adopted by the Pro League Working Group, is that the request be rejected.”
When asked if he thought MLS was above playing in the Open Cup, Garber said: “What has happened over time is that the tournament has not resonated enough with fans, commercial partners and sponsors, and certainly the media partners, in a way that justifies the level of participation that we have been required to do in the past. And over time, MLS has come to the tournament at different levels. We have had different numbers of teams, all “We will try to make sure the tournament works for everyone.”
What is decided will be the decision of the subcommittee and the approval of the federation's board of directors is not required. The subcommittee, which was formed last December and is made up of seven board members, was created with the belief that the Open Cup needed a restart in 2024 while also holding discussions with stakeholders about the format of the tournament. . This is despite the USSF already having a US Open Cup committee.
That approach proved to be too much for Open Cup committee chairman and former USSF board member Arthur Mattson, who told ESPN that he had resigned from his position as committee chairman over the weekend after that his superiors in the federation told him several times to “stand down” in terms of trying to find a solution. He also claimed that the future of the Open Cup was in “grave danger”.
For the moment, that danger appears to have been averted.
