When Major League Soccer dared to send a waiver to US Soccer about opting out of the Open Cup and substituting their Next Pro teams, it became a black eye to the tournament. In December of 2023, just before Christmas, US Soccer came out with a stern reply saying the opt-out was denied, and we all thought that was the end of it. But in reality, it wasn't. MLS continued to pester and jab at US Soccer for the next several months to get their way.
Finally, on Friday, March 1st, it happened. Officially, eight MLS 1st Division sides, with eleven MLS Next Pro sides, will be battling for the US Open Cup, while the final seven American clubs will not participate. This situation has been tiresome, exhausting, and a waste of our time because US Soccer continues to bend its rules and bylaws for MLS no matter what they do. What is the truth about the Open Cup that makes MLS disgusted by it?
First, it's a tournament that is supposed to be governed by US Soccer. When the league controlled the marketing for the Federation from 2005 to 2022, they intentionally neglected to properly promote the tournament to American Soccer fans across the land. Sure, they made some strides late when ESPN put the entire tournament on their streaming platform, but still, where was the promotion of the tournament by Soccer United Marketing? In an article by Paul Tenorio of the Athletic, here is the quote from Executive Vice President of Sporting Product & Competition Nelson Rodriguez about the Open Cup
"The Tournament merits having standards that are benefiting a championship. Those standards can apply to venues and fields and broadcast production. We believe that improved economics were important for all teams. Simply, no team should participate in the U.S. Open Cup at a loss. (It) didn't make sense to us; we didn't think that was fair or befitting. And the tournament would benefit by improved marketing and prize money.".
Since US Soccer took back its promoting power and started to hammer out deals for broadcasting rights and trying to earn new sponsors for themselves, it felt like things were finally looking up. Why do you think MLS was not happy when US Soccer got Turner Sports for their National Teams, and CBS Sports, NBC's Spanish Language Channel Telemundo along with an Argentine Sports network wanted to be a part of the Open Cup, and why you won't see Lionel Messi and Inter Miami anymore because that broadcast money was going toward US Soccer's pockets, not MLS.
But while there is plenty of blame to point at MLS, the truth is US Soccer is the only one to be blamed for their mismanagement of how the game should be governed, and whenever MLS tells US Soccer what is right or what is wrong, they must bend over backward to accommodate them. Why do you think they allowed MLS to have their Leagues Cup in the big chunk of the summer?
We all thought that Madam President Cindy Parlow-Cone and CEO J.T. Batson were going to put their foot down and stop this embarrassment of Major League Soccer pulling out of the Open Cup, but instead, they decided to lie down and allowed MLS to walk and stomp all over them. Who is supposed to be running the US Soccer Federation? These two or Don Garber? US Soccer is supposed to be looking out for the game in its entirety, not for one league only.
If this is what US Soccer wants to become? USA Basketball and USA Hockey became inept in governing their respective sports, then all they are doing is allowing MLS to control everything. As I have said many times on this site, MLS wants to be three entities all into one. They want to run the sport all at a league level, federation level, and the international confederation level, but only allowing Liga MX and not the rest of CONCACAF. MLS is trying to take over the sport and be beneficial toward themselves.
What has happened is a farce. A travesty for the people who care about the Open Cup from the lower levels of the United Soccer Leagues, NISA, NPSL, UPSL, and the amateur leagues who have hopes and dreams to one day face a first-division side and have the guts to knock them out. But sadly, only eight will be waiting for them in the later rounds, and US Soccer leaders have once again allowed MLS to walk on in and take away their powers of governing the sport. At this point, this would never happen from the English FA being bullied by the Premier League, but the truth is, they are watching what's happening over here.
But here is where I will now give both Parlow-Cone and Batson another chance to show us if they can save face. From Kartik Krishnaiyer US Soccer did acquire new commercial partners by inking deals with Marriott hotels, Michelob Light Beer, New York Life Insurance, and their outfitter Nike to give more finances toward the Open Cup. Also, they were forced to make this poor decision as they had a time crunch to finally announce their first-round matchups. The opening round starts from March 19th through the 21st. This means they never wanted to cancel the tournament this year after the two COVID years in 2020 & 2021.
Now is the time for US Soccer to start thinking about the future of the tournament for 2025 and beyond. Parlow-Cone and Batson must now come together, revise their strategy, and take the reigns back for good. They have to show the American Soccer Community that enough is enough. MLS is one part of the sport in this country, not the entire sport. The Open Cup means a lot to the fans, to the players, and to the other teams in MLS that truly want to compete, but were told no by the front office of the league.
If you are an MLS fan and support one of the eleven MLS Next Pro Clubs participating instead of the senior side, please support those kids. It's not their fault for the decisions being made by the Front office of the League. Go to their Open Cup games and support them in making a run into the Open Cup, we must continue to support this tournament no matter how much MLS is bastardizing it.
The reality is that MLS will make any excuse about fixture congestion because they created it with their Leagues Cup monstrosity. They won't expand their rosters and they just won't allow their clubs to call up their players because of their third-division status at Next Pro, which is under the league as well. US Soccer must fight back, or just get run over like they always do. When Don Garber yells jump, they ask how high.
Is there a silver lining in all this? That perhaps US Soccer is striving to do better, with little help from the MLS? A scintillating and financially successful US Open Cup --especially without a MLS team as the Champion-- would credit the massive attention and future dollars that even the MLS can't ignore? For this reason, perhaps we should all now pivot towards supporting US Soccer and the corporate sponsors that have stepped up to support the US Open Cup?