The FA Cup format Suggested US Open Cup format Qualifiers: 32 clubs from NASL, USL-Pro, PDL, USASA Round of 32: 16 MLS clubs + 16 winners of the qualifiers Round of 16 Quarters Semis Final Like the FA Cup, I would suggest the qualifiers and the round of 32 are regionalized to reduce travel costs. The most games a MLS club will play to win the US Open Cup is 5. For the other leagues, it will be 6. For the big majority, they will play about 1-3 games before getting eliminated. Only a handful will play 3 or more games. Thoughts?
Well, US Soccer is doing the same thing you are suggesting, only there are 8 MLS Sides in the third round. Let's wait and see what's happening with the USL Pro league and which sides from PDL are going to join the 9 or 10 USL Pro sides currently. But I will say this and I was going to start a thread on this, but I am very happy that USL has decided to become the Third Division and NASL will get second division. Because not only is there confirmation of which league will represent where, but how many clubs there will be towards the 2011 tournament and it will force the US Open Cup Committiee to make a better tournament & not have it so congested. There is suppose to be anticipation when you get very close to these types of FA Cup Tournament matches and hopefully we can get that going.
The Fed needs to get off their ass and promote the damn thing, as well as get legitimate sponsorship $$$, and MLS needs to grow a pair and not fight promoting it for fear that a lower division team might upset an MLS team. If the USSF put a real prize $$$ on it, got sponsorship to both pay for the prize as well as cover costs (travel, hotel, food), you could have a real blind draw (although I think to not be stupid about it, break it at least into conferences early on - until the round of 8 or 4?). To promote the game, I'd prefer that the lower division host until the later rounds (last 8 or 4) and the whole bidding process be scrapped. I do think the final should be at a neutral, rotated site. This would allow the Fed to promote it better. Give a month between the SF and F and enough fans could travel. Much as the amazing scene in Seattle last year was great, more often than not it has been less than spectacular. I guess if it is really being promoted (televised, etc.), it would be easier to sell.... The real challenge is how do you get the early rounds televised? Knowing which is going to be the Cinderella story/victory or great game (whatever the outcome) is a crap shoot in terms of nationally televising a game, and rebroadcasting doesn't have the same kick.... But until the Fed and MLS start taking it seriously, this tournament that could be one of the best sporting events in the US (eventually) isn't going anywhere...
I like it. All US MLS teams get in, which is good. Like I said above, have the lower seeds host to make the games more competitive and to promote the game, and have it be non-MLS v. MLS. Now that I think about it, regionalize (at least West/East, into four divisions if possible) and seed. So in the Pacific, the MLS team with the best record (say, LA) v. the lowest amateur side, and the lowest MLS team v. the highest non-MLS side, etc. This rewards MLS sides for playing well and gives the Div 2 and 3 teams the best chance to upset a lower end MLS side. I'd tell the hosts of at least the semis and final to televise the games. I'd prefer the quarters as well, but that might be asking too much. But hey, we're putting what we'd like to see, so here goes. As much as possible, local broadcasts of the Round of 32 and Round of 16 with FSC doing an "Election Night Special" type overview show, showing highlights of games as they are played with the option to go to a game if it is a legit upset or otherwise good game. Probably need to break Round of 32 into two nights. Each of these nights probably also needs to be broken into early and late starts. Might even need to break it down further to have no more than four games going at a time. Quarters played early/late on a Tues/Wedn in late July or early August, Semis early/late on a Wed in late August, Final on a Saturday the third or fourth weekend in September. National broadcast for each of these games. I say national broadcast of each game QF in as each game most likely will be a top MLS team or a team that upset a good MLS team. Sooo.... assuming the MLS season ends the weekend of October 22 and working backwards... (Assuming ideal divisions - I know it isn't this simple...) Overall participating teams East MLS 1, MLS 2, MLS 3, MLS 4, NASL 1, NASL 2, USL Pro 1, USL Pro 2, PDL 1, PDL 2, USASA 1, USASA 2 Midwest MLS 1, MLS 2, MLS 3, MLS 4, NASL 1, NASL 2, USL Pro 1, USL Pro 2, PDL 1, PDL 2, USASA 1, USASA 2 Central MLS 1, MLS 2, MLS 3, MLS 4, NASL 1, NASL 2, USL Pro 1, USL Pro 2, PDL 1, PDL 2, USASA 1, USASA 2 West MLS 1, MLS 2, MLS 3, MLS 4, NASL 1, NASL 2, USL Pro 1, USL Pro 2, PDL 1, PDL 2, USASA 1, USASA 2 Qualifier Round - May 24/25 - four east games then four west games for each day Teams in this round: East NASL 1, NASL 2, USL Pro 1, USL Pro 2, PDL 1, PDL 2, USASA 1, USASA 2 Midwest NASL 1, NASL 2, USL Pro 1, USL Pro 2, PDL 1, PDL 2, USASA 1, USASA 2 Central NASL 1, NASL 2, USL Pro 1, USL Pro 2, PDL 1, PDL 2, USASA 1, USASA 2 West NASL 1, NASL 2, USL Pro 1, USL Pro 2, PDL 1, PDL 2, USASA 1, USASA 2 Matchups - NASL 1 v. USASA 2, NASL 2 v. USASA 1, USL Pro 1 v. PDL 2, USL 2 v. PDL 1 in each division; assuming NASL 1, NASL 2 USL Pro 1 and PDL 1 win (just to make it simple). Round of 32 - June 14/15 - four east games then four west games for each day East MLS 1, MLS 2, MLS 3, MLS 4, NASL 1, NASL 2, USL Pro 1, PDL 1 Midwest MLS 1, MLS 2, MLS 3, MLS 4, NASL 1, NASL 2, USL Pro 1, PDL 1 Central MLS 1, MLS 2, MLS 3, MLS 4, NASL 1, NASL 2, USL Pro 1, PDL 1 West MLS 1, MLS 2, MLS 3, MLS 4, NASL 1, NASL 2, USL Pro 1, PDL 1 Matchups - MLS 1 v. PDL 1, MLS 2 v. USL Pro 1, MLS 3 v. NASL 2, MLS 4 v. NASL 1 in each division Round of 16 - July 13 - four east games then four west games QF - East 1 early on Aug 2, West 1 late on Aug 2, East 2 early on Aug 3, West 2 late on Aug 3 SF - East on Aug 30, West on Aug 31 on FSC Final - Sept 24 on FSC Not sure if the Fed is still doing the $10k for the team at each level that advances the farthest, but that needs to be 10x, at least for USL Pro and NASL levels, and the overall prize needs to be $250k or more, not just $100k.
Not a bad system. I like the idea of all teams getting a crack at winning the cup or at least getting to play a bigger team. Currently there are 6 rounds with MLS skipping the first 2. dtid's suggestion makes MLS play 5 games instead of 6, very fair. I'm just thinking out loud: If you back up the 16 non-MLS qualifiers for 2 rounds you'd get 64 teams at the round 1 level. Working backward with USASA getting its 8 spots, this leaves 56. from level 2: 5 NASL and 11 USL Pro bring the remaining spots to 40. These 40 are to be split by PDL and NPSL? NPSL has 37 teams from 6 conferences and PDL has 54 American teams from 8 conferences. That's 91 teams to be reduced to 40 ... not too hard. 22 teams play a qualifying round with the 11 added to the 69 to play one round to get to the "Open Cup Proper". Now that's FA Cup Style. Not sure if you could add a rule like if you didn't play last year you don't get in this year. FA Cup teams had to have played in a league the previous year. Expansion teams don't get in.
I like this but would add a few things... Inspire EVERY USASA and US Club Soccer team to enter the tournament. Break it all down by each state association so a team from West Texas does not have to travel all the way to Alabama just to try and qualify. Go to a single elimination 1,024 team field, and charge each team $500 for entry. Home teams take care of the officials, USSF assigns them. MLS teams come in when the pool is reduced to 16, and the fun starts there. Pair each set of teams geographically where the shortest distance is traveled until the MLS teams come in. This makes a lot of sense for all the lads that have a day job and work the next day. The Hoosiers effect will be in full swing. What a great way for USSF to celebrate the roots of the game and to really capture the imagination of the American sports fan. Just take a look at what Manchester United went through last week facing Crawley Town, these type of stories would be very interesting for most casual fans. Pay out the $500,000 from registration fees in prize money. $150,000 to highest advanced amatuer teams, and the rest to the winner. Now we are playing for something.
That's way too many clubs. Even England's FA Cup with 14 rounds (including 6 rounds before the First Round Proper) has fewer than 800 clubs.
Maybe you are right...but we have 15+ leagues in the Houston area alone with 30+ teams each. If the top amatuer club is taking home $100,000+, that is a lot of motivation for a group of guys to pitch in $40 each for the registration and another $20 for each home game. This is soccer, anything can happen, and everybody that does take part, will always remember the experience, and will always feel like a part of USOC history. That is something that can never be taken away. What a way to bring the game to the forefront of american sports, and really, it would not cost USSF a thing.
You get my vote for USSF president! This is exactly what the USOC (and the sport in general) needs. Don't under estimate the interest in the USOC that would be generated with so many "small fry" going for the trophy. Ultimately, some wise sponsor would see the promotional potential all this activity would generate and pony up for serious prize $$. It could feed itself.
Here's why I think this format would make the cup less interesting and less important. Under the current system: If you're a USASA team, at least now you go into the draw knowing that you might pull a D-3 team, or a lousy D-2 team, or best of all a PDL team that you have a chance of upsetting. D-2, D-3, and PDL teams have two rounds where they get to be either favorites or realistic underdogs. Meanwhile, when MLS teams enter, they get either a halfway-decent team, or a team that's already shown they can show up against competition. All this means that there's a real competition for the prize money the USSF puts up for the team at each level (D-2, D-3, amateur) that advances farthest in the tournament. Sometimes teams split it in the second round, and sometimes you can beat everyone else with an MLS upset and take the whole thing yourself. Under your proposed system: USASA, NPSL, and PDL teams get one game; they lose it; they go home. The last time a team lower than USL-2 beat an MLS team was in 2006. USL-Pro and NASL teams will be underdogs from their first game, and most of them will be eliminated too. Meanwhile, the early games of the tournament will become unwatchable. If you think MLS teams play scrubs against the USL-2, wait till you see the squads they put out against the USASA, especially if you tell them the game has to be in the USASA team's community-college (if you're lucky) stadium. Even with the scrubs playing, games will likely go one of two ways: one-sided beatdowns, or pack-the-box half-court games (that USASA victory in 2006 was of course 0-0 on penalties). Not to mention four of the sixteen MLS teams will get what amount to first-round byes against USASA squads, while others will have to face real competition--as determined by random chance or geography. Not to mention...a USASA team that's giant-killed its way through the lower divisions now getting to play the big boys? That's a marketable contest. An MLS team playing a random USASA team who won a USASA tournament? Would you go to that game on a Tuesday night? As it is now, the US Open Cup involves every level of American soccer. This proposal makes everything but MLS an afterthought, and also makes the tournament less fair and less interesting for MLS teams. I think there's room to adjust the way the Open Cup works, but you need a system that keeps the part that makes it fun for everyone, not one that turns it into a glorified MLS league cup with lip service to the lower leagues.
i think one of the reasons that MLS teams (and fans) don't take the US Open Cup that serious is because the games come during the season when the league is more important. i've been thinking about this a bit and this is kind of a radical plan but i think if it works it could become soccer's own march madness - except it would take place in november. move the last 16 teams into a tournament that happens after the end of the MLS season. automatic qualifying- top 10 MLS teams from the season that just ended. Provides some extra interest to the MLS season NASL #1 USL Pro #1 12 teams automatically qualify for the last 16. The remaining 4 slots will come from lower division. the first round is group play - just like the World Cup then the knockout rounds.