MLS's rejection of the U. S. Open Cup shuns American soccer heritage
On Dec. 15, Major League Soccer made a startling announcement: That next season, for the first time since the league's founding in 1996, MLS would not send any teams to the U. S. Open Cup tournament.
The U. S. Open Cup is the longest-running soccer tournament in America — and one of the longest-running soccer tournaments in the world.
Founded in 1914 and run annually with just a short pause for COVID protocols, it predates even the FIFA World Cup by a full 16 years. The Cup encompasses the entire American soccer pyramid and involves 100 teams from eight different professional and semi-professional leagues.
MLS's withdrawal from the tournament would be like the Premier League withdrawing from the FA Cup or top national teams withdrawing from the World Cup.
It's a shocking decision and one whose aftershocks rattled the U. S. soccer community.
"MLS's withdrawal of their first teams from the Cup is not only a disservice to the fans, but also to the sport itself," the Independent Supporter's Council, a collective representing American soccer fans, said in a statement. "It undermines the inclusive nature of American soccer ... the decision threatens to erode the very foundations of the sport's heritage and its connection to communities."
Soccer began in America as a way to bring communities together during the Industrial Revolution, and community has played a vital role in the survival of the game ever since.
When the U. S. had no professional soccer between the dissolution of the NASL in 1984 and the founding of MLS in 1996, it was local community teams who came together and competed annually in the U. S. Open Cup to keep the proverbial lights on for the sport in the States.
During that era, the Cup was the only way for soccer fans across the nation to see one another and keep in touch, and it kept smaller teams alive in the absence of a true top league.
Those smaller teams will be the ones destroyed by MLS's short-sighted decision to withdraw. U. S. Open Cup games against big-ticket MLS teams are crucial for smaller teams. They provide excitement, of course, but also thousands of dollars in ticket sales and television air rights.
Nations across the world use tournaments like the U. S. Open Cup to help lower-division teams make money; just look at how excited French lower league side Revel was to learn it'd face Paris Saint-Germain in France's cup:
That's the value of competitions like the U. S. Open Cup. They keep soccer pyramids united while distributing wealth across divisions to ensure the sport stays healthy at all levels.
MLS's withdrawal is a blatant rejection of the American soccer community that made the league possible in the first place. The reasons for its rejection are clear: the league and its corporate sponsor Apple have no control over the Cup's broadcasting rights and are choosing to prioritize the competitions they'll gain the most from.
It's a short-term move that will make the MLS millions, but a long-term disaster that will destroy the integrity of the American soccer pyramid. And that's something MLS needs to understand if it chooses to go forward with its plan.
MLS may be the top of the pyramid, but the most important part of any structure isn't the top: it's the bottom. Without a solid foundation, U. S. Soccer will flounder — and MLS will flounder right along with it. It's happened before, and it led to the dissolution of the entire men's first division:
MLS had better be certain it won't happen again.
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