MLS and U.S. Soccer make progress toward peace over the U.S. Open Cup

NEW YORK — In recent times, Major League Soccer has aimed some pretty stern criticism at the U.S. Open Cup, America’s oldest soccer tournament. But it seems that the league now has backed off that stance and has grown closer to a peace deal with U.S. Soccer over the competition.

Launched in 1914, the Open Cup carries more history than anything else in the sport in this country. Teams from every level of the game from amateurs to the pros take part in the single-game knockout tournament, and it matters that MLS is involved. Not only does it complete the tapestry, but longtime fans know that the old North American Soccer League’s teams didn’t take part. That meant no Philadelphia Atoms, Pelé‘s New York Cosmos, or Johan Cruyff’s Washington Diplomats.

MLS played without too many complaints from its start in 1996 until 2023. Then, in May of that year, commissioner Don Garber took a swing at the Open Cup at a U.S. Soccer Federation board meeting — from his seat on the board, not just his day job — and it raised a lot of eyebrows.

From then through December, there were stern talks behind the scenes, and MLS didn’t always get its way. So at the end of 2023, it blew the lid off again, pledging to send its clubs' reserve squads to the 2024 edition instead of first teams.

That drew a hailstorm of ire from Open Cup devotees, from fans of lower-league and amateur teams to those of MLS clubs who appreciate the Cup’s special nature. It drew U.S. Soccer’s ire, too, including an unprecedented public rebuke of the top flight’s stance.

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Thankfully, there’s been progress since then. Though MLS still isn’t letting all 27 of its U.S. clubs’ first teams into the field yet, it will send 16, doubling last year’s eight. This year’s participants will include the nine teams not in this year’s Concacaf Champions Cup or Leagues Cup (including the Union), plus the top seven from last year’s leaguewide regular-season standings that aren’t in the Champions Cup.

A further eight clubs will formally send their reserve squads, with their first teams occupied by those other cups.

It’s an imperfect step, and not just for fans. Nelson Rodriguez, MLS’s executive vice president of sporting product and competition, acknowledged to The Inquirer that it’s just a step for the league, too, with more to potentially come in future years.

“For us as a league, and for many of our clubs, it’s important that Next Pro [MLS’s reserve league] have an opportunity to be in the tournament,” he said in an interview at the league’s headquarters.

This works two ways: for independent Next Pro teams (there are a few), and reserve squads of MLS clubs. U.S. Soccer, which runs the Open Cup, understandably has a rule that clubs can’t enter two teams in the tournament in case they end up playing each other.

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MLS clubs sending reserve teams obviously devalues the tournament, even as it pleases some sporting directors to give prospects a shot. But beneath the surface, it’s been a bargaining chip for MLS against U.S. Soccer to force some changes.

“We wanted improved travel reimbursement for all teams — our view is no team should participate in the Open Cup at a financial loss,” Rodriguez said. “We think greater transparency on seeding and draws and how is important. Better promotion of the matches is important. Venue standards and field standards become important. We believe there should be more amateur versus pro games because that’s where the richness and the history and the charm comes in.”

Each of those things makes sense, and “we’ve been really pleased that U.S. Soccer has listened, Rodriguez said.” U.S. Soccer’s side backed that up and generally agreed with the goals at play.

“U.S. Soccer, under our current leadership, is very focused on connecting with the entire U.S. Soccer ecosystem,” Open Cup commissioner David Applegate told The Inquirer. “There’s been an incredible amount of listening and meetings that have been happening, and the Open Cup is no exception. We’re listening to MLS, the USL [which runs pro lower leagues], the other pro members, and our amateur ecosystem to find out what’s important.”

It bears saying, though, that MLS had plenty of chances at “better promotion” when its marketing arm owned U.S. Soccer’s commercial rights for many years. Rodriguez got an earful about that when MLS made its big move in late 2023.

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With hindsight, one can now ask again: Did the league really have to drive a bulldozer across the event to make change happen?

There’s virtue in giving clubs roster flexibility for Open Cup games. Offering young players opportunities for real minutes is as valuable as giving veteran players rest.

Ideally, MLS teams would do what European teams do all the time: move players up and down between the first and second teams for cup tournaments. But there are legal hurdles to clear. MLS Next Pro players aren’t unionized, have separate contracts from the first-team structure, and some are amateurs without contracts in the first place.

For now, it seems that Rodriguez wants to keep an opening for MLS clubs to put their reserve teams in the Open Cup, especially clubs that are playing in another tournament like the Concacaf Champions Cup or Leagues Cup.

“I’m also a believer that each club eventually should have to decide for itself,” he said — knowing full well how often MLS teams have been barred from deciding for themselves about big things. Just the idea of easing the reins opens eyes in some quarters.

“This year, we’ll have 24 of 27 U.S.-based [MLS] teams in the Open Cup,” Rodriguez said, using a loose definition. “We think that’s really good in some form, because we have eight Next Pro and 16 first teams. Can that balance change? Some of that’s also contingent upon U.S. Soccer and what it does with the Open Cup going forward.”

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He noted that the MLS Players Association agreed to a limited expansion of use of second-team players this year, though it’s not specific to the Open Cup, and said there have been conversations with U.S. Soccer about further loosenings specifically for the tournament.

“We have spoken to U.S. Soccer about tournament roster rules,” Rodriguez said. “If part of U.S. Soccer’s mission is to grow the game and unearth more players for national team player pools, having greater flexibility would be helpful. I think they’re willing to talk and listen and consider, so I think all those things seem to be moving in a positive direction.”

Then he hedged his bet.

“I do think there is risk: A Next Pro team is not an MLS team,” he said. “And putting — I’m exaggerating — 18 Next Pro guys into the first-team jersey is not the first team. That can be a degradation of brand if it goes poorly or cause brand confusion in the market. So we do make a distinction. We think it’s an important distinction.”

That prompted a return to the biggest question that Rodriguez has faced about the relationship between MLS, the Open Cup, and the league’s long history of making clubs conform to one way of doing things.

Of course there’s a difference between a lineup of senior pros and a lineup of reserve-team prospects. But why not let teams take that risk for themselves if they want to, then compete with other teams to see who wins?

“We may,” Rodriguez said. “Certainly, there’s lots of clubs that want that. … We may get to there.”

As with so many things for the league and the sport, we now wait to see what happens.

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