As the new Major League Soccer season has started with a bang, we here at Beyond the 90 are still examining the fallout from the supporters of each club on the aftermath of the first division league allowing eight of their clubs to participate in the 2024 US Open Cup, and the eleven MLS Next Pro clubs while the remainder of the clubs in the CONCACAF Champions Cup told to stay out.
We have seen St. Louis City fans protest marching toward their stadium; we continue to see independent supporter clubs go on social media to display their discourse, as well as the Independent Supporters Council standing firm in their support for the Open Cup and what it means to them and the majority of the fans who support MLS. There is no denying that this tournament has been ignored and abused by those past presidents of the US Soccer Federation. Finding proper sponsors, better coverage, and a broadcast partner to take this tournament by the reigns.
At times, it felt like there were positives, but at the end of the day, there were negatives. Once again, MLS marketing division SUM was tasked for many years to do the job for the Federation to help them make deals in all facets of their game, including the US Open Cup. They weakened the tournament by not bothering to do their jobs. They did help bring in ESPN's streaming service ESPN+ for several seasons to broadcast every round, but it wasn't enough.
When the new regime of Cindy Parlow-Cone and JT Batson came in to run the Federation after Carlos Cordero's short time, it looked like possible changes were coming, and maybe everything was going well. They got a big broadcast deal with Turner Sports, broadcasting their Men's and Women's teams and the Open Cup. When CBS Sports entered their Golazo Network to show three matches from the third round toward the Semi-Finals and put the final on CBS Sports Network, everything looked brilliant.
But once the offseason came in and the shenanigans from MLS popped up, the alarm bells rang very loudly from the entire American Soccer Community. Once again, fixture congestion was an excuse when the League created the Leagues Cup with partnerships from Liga MX and CONCACAF. We have heard Don Garber multiple times putting down the tournament at the State of the League address, and now we have heard from the Executive Vice President of Competitions, Nelson Rodriguez, who was on Futbol Americas, to discuss why it happened.
They have argued that their two teams are sanctioned as professional clubs and should be allowed in, but that's not the case around the world. It was allowed for a short period back in 2015 when some MLS clubs were granted permission to have these sides in the United Soccer Leagues, but they got removed afterward as the Open Cup Committee and US Soccer changed their minds. Only Under 23 clubs from MLS Teams are allowed participation in USL League Two, UPSL, or the National Premier Soccer League.
MLS Next Pro is considered a professional league, and those two teams went there after being forced out by the USL in their Championship League. That was US Soccer's first mistake on their sanctioning. How can you allow two clubs owned by one entity to participate in the Open Cup? That shouldn't happen, and it never happens during their respective National tournament.
Rodiguez has also said that the Open Cup deserves more. They have tried within the confines of US Soccer to deliver more. There were plenty of conversations behind the scenes to try to make it better for all, but again, when you are insulting the clubs in the lower levels, you are insulting the fans, including your own, who support your first-division teams by not allowing the other eighteen clubs to play in the Open Cup.
I also understand they don't want every round to have pro side vs pro side or MLS Vs. MLS, but once again, there is nothing you can do when US Soccer is doing regional division draws in the third round through the fifth round, and then the winners of the fifth round face each other in the Quarterfinals. We would all love an open blind draw in every round, but with the vast size of our country, this is the only remedy for games played.
Rodriguez also discussed the standards of the fields that the lower levels are using and the broadcast standards. Well, guess what, Nelson? Not every club is blessed with a jewel of a soccer stadium like what's going on in MLS. You still have clubs that play in NFL Stadiums like Atlanta, Charlotte, New England, and Seattle. Vancouver is playing in a Canadian Football Stadium, and the leagues precious NYCFC is still labeled as vagabond FC bouncing back and forth from the Bronx to Queens, to Harrison, NJ, to East Hartford, Connecticut, and when they return to Champions Cup action, playing at someone else's soccer stadium.
And about the broadcasts? Well, if Turner wants to up their game, then US Soccer should have a conversation about that, or how about allowing CBS Sports more time to use their Paramount Plus site? I have no objection if US Soccer wants to reopen its broadcast deal and showcase the Open Cup on more sports networks. The English FA allows both the BBC and ITV to broadcast the FA Cup matches. Or are you and MLS afraid of the excellent jobs by both CBS Sports and NBC's Telemundo promoting and broadcasting last year's Semi-Finals and Championship Final?
Are you afraid of what Andres Cantor, Andres Cordero, and Ray Hudson did for their representative networks to show all of American Soccer what a real Sports Network can do for one of the oldest cup competitions in the world? The amount of production work and skill from Executive Producer Peter Radovich Jr. highlighting the history of our nation and tying it all together with the Open Cup during their Pre-match show, along with the talents of Kate Abdo, Charlie Davies, and Clint Dempsey at their desk at Chase Stadium? Why is it so hard to accept that these are the changes the Open Cup has been begging for, and under SUM, you completely ignored them?
We understand that Copa America is coming, and we all know that some MLS youth players who feature for their clubs will be gone for the upcoming Olympics, but that is not an MLS decision to make. That is up to the head coaches of all twenty-six American clubs at the first-division level. You created the fixture congestion when you created the Leagues Cup. You continue to tinker with your playoff format every four to five years. MLS shouldn't have its ecosystem; it is US Soccer's ecosystem as a whole.
Currently, in the CONCACAF Champions Cup, St. Louis City was eliminated in the First Round. By the end of the round of the 16-second leg, two more MLS sides will be eliminated; either Columbus, Houston, Miami, or Nashville will join St. Louis City being out of the competition, but only Houston will be allowed to play due to defending their title. It's pathetic by MLS. Then, of course, all their so-called statistics against the Open Cup means nothing. How about telling your clubs to promote the damned tournament, in-fact, how about making space on your calendars to play these matches on the weekends instead of the midweeks.
So, as you saw on Futbol Americas, Nelson Rodriguez informing every American soccer fan why the Open Cup is broken and not fixing it their way. They claim they want to help the Open Cup be better, yet again, they want to abandon it. It's not about what's good for American Soccer as a whole, it's only good for MLS.
Thanks for this great writeup, Kartik! Previous USSF Presidents really sh*t the bed on the US Open Cup marketing. As well as other major issues, such as USWNT player compensation. Perhaps we now finally have a positive paradigm shift in improved USSF leadership.
Ultimately, success is the best vindication and vengeance. Let's open for a wildly successful, profitable US Open Cup. And a Cup in which MLS Next Pro clubs are humiliated by amateur clubs!
BTW, doesn't revenue from the CONCACAF Champions Cup flow to U.S. Soccer? Or at least a major portion of the profits? I remember the surplus from previous CONCACAF competitions providing the money to pay the massive legal fees consumed in the fight against the USWNT players --expenses which were entirely and tragically avoidable.