The US Soccer Federation announced the format of the 2023-24 US Open Cup on Friday, confirming that only eight of the possible 26 MLS teams will have their first teams participating.
Atlanta United FC, FC Dallas, Houston Dynamo FC, LAFC, Real Salt Lake, San Jose Earthquakes, Seattle Sounders FC and Sporting Kansas City are the MLS teams that will play with their first teams.
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Eight of the nine MLS teams that qualified for this year's Concacaf Champions Cup will not participate in the US Open Cup in any capacity, with the exception of defending Open Cup champion Houston Dynamo.
It means Lionel Messi and Inter Miami, who reached the final last season, will not take part in this year's competition.
The first participating MLS teams consist of the seven highest-ranked US-based teams, as ranked by the 2023 MLS Supporters' Shield, that are not participating in the Concacaf Champions Cup.
Of the remaining 10 MLS clubs, nine will have their MLS Next Pro teams participating from the first round: Austin FC II, Chicago Fire II, Colorado Rapids 2, Crown Legacy (Charlotte FC affiliate), Minnesota United FC2, LA Galaxy II , New York City FC II, New York Red Bulls II and Portland Timbers 2.
The only team not participating in the Concacaf Champions Cup or Open Cup in any capacity is DC United, which does not have an MLS Next Pro team.
In total, eight Division I teams, 24 Division II teams, 32 Division III teams and 32 open division teams will compete for the 2024 title, with $300,000 going to the winner.
The US Open Cup crowned its first winner in 1914, making it one of the oldest soccer competitions in the United States and allowing professional and amateur teams to compete together in a single-elimination tournament.
This creates potential giant-killing scenarios as lower-tier teams take on their professional counterparts.
In a change to the tournament format, the upcoming first round will mark the first time since 2008 that all 32 matchups will pit amateur teams against professionals.
The USSF also announced new commercial partners, including Marriott, Michelob Ultra, New York Life and Nike.
This allowed US Soccer to prioritize better financial incentives for participating teams, including significantly increased travel reimbursement. The federation has also committed to further promoting the tournament.
“First of all, I want to extend my sincere thanks to all of our members for their invaluable contributions over the past few months, sharing with us the reasons why the US Open Cup is so great and what we can do to make it even better,” said US Soccer CEO JT Batson. “After extensive discussions, we have put together a specific competitive format for the 2024 Lamar Hunt US Open Cup, promising exciting matchups from the First Round and throughout the tournament.
“US Soccer values the tradition and importance of the US Open Cup and we will continue to talk with all of our members to explore ways to improve future editions of the tournament and how we all work together to grow soccer in every community across the country. “.
Nelson Rodríguez, MLS executive vice president of competition and sports products, said there have also been economic changes. What he called “honorable hosting fees” have been eliminated, and hosts are also allowed to keep more ticket revenue.
United Soccer League President Paul McDonough added: “The USL has supported the Lamar Hunt US Open Cup for nearly 30 years and we are proud to be a part of it again in 2024. We applaud all of the clubs in USL who have decided to participate in this US Open Cup last year, despite having the option to decline. We appreciate and share the fans' passion for our country's most historic and authentic competition, and we look forward to seeing how the drama unfolds over the course of the tournament.”
Although the tournament has long attracted soccer fans in the US, it has struggled to attract investment and a broader audience, and the future of the tournament has been in doubt since MLS announced in December that, due to match congestion, their First Teams would not participate in the competition and MLS Next Pro teams would take their place.
MLS commissioner Don Garber has often expressed his displeasure with the tournament and continued his criticism in a February interview with ESPN.
“Everyone in the football business [needs] “Rethink how competitions have been organized to ensure that we can continue to evolve and manage what is the biggest problem for all of professional football, which is the management of our calendar,” he said.
While it's true that the MLS schedule has become more crowded in recent years, part of that is the league's own fault with the creation of the Leagues Cup in collaboration with Liga MX.
MLS' stance was at odds with USSF professional league standards, which are designed to set minimum standards for things like owner finances, stadium capacity and market size. In this case, the 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.”
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.”
MLS's desire for only its reserve teams to participate also caused problems at the confederation level.
The winner of the Open Cup earns a place in the Concacaf Champions Cup, and a source with knowledge of Concacaf's thinking indicated that if the Open Cup had become a competition only for second-tier teams and below, this would have generated protests from other countries. in Concacaf.
The source indicated that these concerns, although they did not amount to a demand, were communicated to the USSF by Concacaf.
But MLS continued to work against all its teams participating. A USSF subcommittee of seven people from its board of directors was formed in December 2022 after the issue became public.
Last month, the subcommittee decided that the 2023-24 tournament would move forward with a hybrid format that included some of the top MLS teams.
“I don't know if anything changed after our application was rejected, as it was simply a continuation of discussions,” Rodriguez said.
That approach did not sit well with the USL, which runs leagues that comprise some of the lower levels of the American soccer system.
At one point, some second-tier USL Championship teams threatened to not participate, but eventually all 47 teams in the organization agreed to participate.
However, the fact that the USSF appeared to waive its own requirements for top-tier team participation still caused unrest within the USL ranks.
The USL's McDonough said, “I'm disappointed that US Soccer didn't handle the entire situation in a stronger or better way.”
The format announced Friday is only for 2024. Rodriguez indicated that the USSF is forming a “working group” that will work with interested parties to determine what format will be used for 2025.
