US Soccer announces restructured schedule, format for 2020 US Open Cup December 12, 2019 3:04PM EST Charles Boehm Highlights: 1. starts earlier (round 1 is March 24th) 2. Bottom 11 MLS clubs from 2019 to enter in round 3 (including MIA and NSH) 3. Top 12 (including Revs) enter in round 4 4. Minimum of 2 weeks between rounds Not new, but MLS-owned clubs are not eligible, so Revs II will not be entered in this Cup.
What it really does is make it less than it was, which was already not very much. It was already an afterthought and a pain-in-the-ass for MLS clubs. Too much of a chance to embarrass themselves, with no real upside. Can you remember the Mid Michigan Bucks, or Joe Public? I do. I'd like to see the Cup tournament to survive and prosper. This ain't the way to do it. It was already half-assed. This format makes it quarter-assed. USSF is a herd with far more horses asses than there are horses.
I totally agree with your point about the US Open Cup, and would argue that it's now more like 16th assed or 32-assed, but I do want to point out that the Joe Public embarrassment had nothing to do with the US Open Cup.
Flint City Bucks decline to enter, as have others, including other finalist in League Two, Reading United: https://thecup.us/2019/12/18/usl-le...out-2020-us-open-cup-after-schedule-travesty/
With 23 US MLS teams, you can't exactly have them start with the round of 32, can you? If they start at 64, that means the finalists would have played 6 games. So it seems like a decent compromise to seed the top 16 (US) MLS teams and have the others play in. I've said this before, but during World Cup and Copa America years when the MLS schedule lightens up they should have the USOC on every weekend. This way they can get through a few rounds quickly, have larger crowds than they would on a Wednesday, allow for away fans to travel, and with no league games, MLS clubs will at least play a close to full strength team. If you need your Internationals in order to beat the Central Jersey Riptide, you've got bigger problems than that. If at all possible, the lower seed should host, since it is, in fact a big deal for an MLS club to come to town, as opposed to the Revs hosting the some team no one has ever heard of in Gillette with 66,000 empty seats.
I hear what you're saying about atmosphere. Conversely though, the visiting team gets a cut of the gate (at least that's how it works in cup comps abroad), and failing to fill Gilette probably offers a more attractive financial outcome than filling the local HS stand (a la the 2018 debacle against Louisville)
U.S. Open Cup 2nd round draw revealed, with 11 MLS teams to join field in 3rd round January 29, 2020 6:40PM EST MLSsoccer staff A new league (NISA, Div 3) joining the competition this year. Looks like NISA is planning an expansion club in Providence.