2024 U.S. Open Cup

Anyone who repeats this drivel (you're far from the only one) is just revealing their ignorance of the through line that solidly connects not just STL City to St. Louis FC but also back to AC St. Louis. You don't know shit

 

So now teams qualified based on the place they finished in MLS last season. Instead of one off games, they played 34 to determine who qualified. Isn't that how the authentic Champions Leagues do it?

At this point US Soccer should just give USL D1 sanctioning and let's see where things go from there.....

All of the revisionist history, biased reporting, and romanticizing of a competition that has yet to actually grab the attention of the general soccer fan is not going to help grow the game in the USA. All that it is going to do is help get a few folks like Kartik, soccer reform, and some media personnel get a few extra likes and comments on social media.

This whole "#savethecup" "movement" and calls to boycott another competition aren't going to help grow the game. If people actually WANT to save the Open Cup then they should tune in to watch it at EVERY ROUND!!! If there a local Open Cup game get out there and ACTUALLY ATTEND it. That's what's going to save the open cup, not some contrived boycott, social media rants, etc.

BTW supporters groups boycotting the leagues cup isn't going to have the effect that people think it will. Supporters' section tickets are usually the least expensive tickets..... Other fans are going to buy those tickets. Especially for to a team whose games are all sold out during the regular season.

 

If they announce in advance that those are the qualifying criteria, then at least that's a system, whether or not it's a good one. But what we have here is a post-facto basis of selecting a few teams after a contentious negotiation. The San Jose Earthquakes didn't know they were qualifying for the Open Cup when they played to a draw vs. Austin on Decision Day. And nobody knows what the criteria will be for next year; we just have statements that there will be continued discussions about the future of the cup.

 

I have dragged my friend Mike to the early rounds of the Open Cup in the past.

 

There were 15 all-MLS games in the round of 32 and round of 16. 2 broke 10k (austin/chicago and the lafc/galaxy games in the r16). 3 more broke 7k (fcc/nycfc, galaxy/sea, and timbers/rsl all in the r32).

In the third round Detroit hosted Minnesota in front of 4.5k (their lowest league game was 4.2k and they averaged 6k), Monterey Bay played SJ in front of 4k (I don't have their average but looking at Wikipedia they were normally in the 3.8k range with several over 4.5k), the Rowdies played Houston in front of less than 2k when their lowest league attendance was 3.6k, and Vegas hosted RSL in front of 300 people.

In the round of 32 Monterey Bay did manage 5.8k for LAFC, Sacramento hosted Colorado in front of 8.9k (league average of 10.6k), and Loudoun hosted Columbus in front of 3.2k (think they averaged 2.6k for the league run).

This idea that lower league teams are coming out to see MLS teams is a damn dream that isn't backed up by data. It keeps getting pushed here and other places but nothing proves that fans actually come out and make it worth implementing.

It is the tournament CONCACAF wanted to be the qualifying competition for the North American Football Union to feed into an expanded Champions Cup. It is similar to the Central American Cup and the Carribean Cup which both serve as qualifying tournaments. Oh, and the Carribean Cup was hosted by countries or cities for years despite qualification for the Champions League being on the line. So, yeah, that is a very CONCACAF thing to do.

You can be mad all you want about the decision, but it is on the fans. People showed up for Leagues Cup. They haven't shown up for the Open Cup.

 

Things that get lost in the MLS is Big Bad Corporate narrative:

US Soccer is an awful communicator, and quite frankly they're bad at listening too. Not just listening, but actually HEARING what their stakeholders are telling them.

US Soccer has routinely put monetary interests ahead of sporting considerations.
1.) CHOSE to host a WCQ against Costa Rica At Red Bull Arena
2.) Chose to host WCQ's against El Salvador and Guatemala in Washington DC

US Soccer has not made the USOC a priority in the modern professional era

MLS promoted the competition on its website and programming for years....

MLS' website routinely had articles and content promoting lower division teams (hello Detroit City FC, San Antonio Scorpions, etc)

The current version of USL would not exist if it were not for MLS propping up USL with it's reserve teams (money losers in nearly every case).

USL told MLS it no longer wanted nor needed MLS' reserve teams in USL

For decades US Soccer was ran like a mom & pop family business, supporters, players, coaches, media, etc. called for it to become more professional. It has.... people are still unhappy with US Soccer, and say that they make decisions based on the bottom line and not what the fans want...

USL is authentic!!! USL is owned by one of the largest real estate development and management companies in the US.... USL also now has MANY former employees and owners from NASL 2.0....

US Soccer has largely ignored the rapid progress the rest of the world has made when it comes to the Women's game. Our National team is now starting to fall behind.

There are currently TWO Women's Professional D1 leagues. There are at least TWO Division 3 Men's leagues. At one time there were TWO Division 2 Men's league, and there may be again at some point in the near future.

US Soccer has never had a clear vision for what the professional game should look like here in the USA.

US Soccer has always been an organization that wants to and attempts to please EVERYONE, yet in the end everyone is largely unhappy.

US Soccer created the bad situation (and then completely mismanaged it) and subsequent lawsuits with its' Women's National Team. Ditto the situation with NASL 2.0.

MLS is not perfect. They do a lot of stuff that is head scratching, and frankly pisses people off. MLS has also gotten quite a lot correct over the years. Like it or not, MLS has had a huge hand in growing the game in the US to its' current stature.

Like it or not, the owners in MLS have spent BILLIONS of dollars to grow the game in the US. Like it or not the hunt family, Phil Anschutz, and to a lesser extent Robert Kraft have likely lost 100's of millions of dollars growing the game in the US (and saving the professional game at the turn of the century).

US Soccer needs to get its' house in order. By that, I mean they need to get a clear vision for how the professional game will be structured and organized. Then they need to get a clear vision for how the US Open Cup will be organized. Without the former, the USOC is going to continue to be what has been: a disorganized mess. Then US Soccer needs to figure out what its' mission is and how they are going to accomplish it. Currently, trying to please everyone hasn't worked, and will continue to not work.

 

Detroit didn't host a midweek USLC game until July, with their others on the road before that. I'm assuming that's a weather issue. The game vs Minnesota was played on Tuesday where the high was 47, the second coldest day of the month.

The 3 league games they hosted on Wednesdays averaged 5565 in attendance, so being within 1k with little runup and bad weather isn't some sort of reason to pretend people don't go to Open Cup games.

 

Lubbock Matadors host D3 (NISA) squad, Arizona Monsoon of March 21 at 7:30 local time. The Lubbock-Cooper football field isn't available as the home site so they're hosting at the LCU soccer field (DII college stadium) in town. Chops my drive to the game in half.

 

My local team doesn’t advertise they have games. Is it incumbent on me to root out their schedule or are they happy with 167 friends and family showing up?

He’ll, they’ve traveled to Pittsburgh the past two years and may have out-drew the two Riverhounds matches combined.

Thx,

Jay!

 

They hosted a NISA team the round before in front of 1.3k. Of course, I'm assuming that the "lower league hosts" only applies if it is an MLS team (similar to Copa del Rey).

They idea is that MLS teams play on the road because they build the sport by bringing in people that wouldn't normally go to a game. The data doesn't show that. If it did then you'd assume that you'd at least get a normal crowd size. What we are actually saying then is that if we played USOC games on the weekend we'd see better attendances. Which of course pushes league games into the less desirable mid-week slot.

I'm all for working through ideas to fix the tournament (even if I literally have no say in the matter). But people keep coming up with solutions that are vibe based and don't show up in the data.

 

I know that one doesn't exist just like the San Diego Loyal are no more. I know a compromise with the current teams league has been signed off on and Leagues Cup is the new standard. I know if US Open Cup was widely successful we wouldn't be having this conversation. Ain't that the shit.

 

7 of 11 Next Pro hosting.

Thx,

Jay!

 

If you're reading this thread, you can look at the schedules posted here and see if there are any games being played in your area.

 

Well said.

 

I live five minutes from the stadium. It holds 3-5000 people. The team could at the very least put up some median road signs announcing their presence. I literally didn’t know they existed until MLS dropped their bombshell last year. And the year before I was exercising at the place where they play, there’s not even signage indicating a team plays there. Still isn’t since I was walking around there on Tuesday.

I think they were siding with the players last year.

https://t.co/W9h38D7JvA

— Jay! (@JayRockerz) March 2, 2024

Thx,

Jay!

 

Liverpool played their U21 team at Southampton. Their goalscorers were both 18 years-old.

 

1. I don't think that money was the reason why that 2017 WC qualifier against Costa Rica was played at Red Bull Arena. I think that the low attendance by Costa Rica fans at a 2009 qualifier in Washington lulled the USSF into thinking that it was safe to play qualifiers against Costa Rica in the Northeast. The attendance that night in 2009 was 26,000, and only about a third of the crowd appeared to be Costa Rica fans. And that was a night when Costa Rica could have clinched qualification for the World Cup by winning the game.

If money was the reason behind the USSF's selection of a location for that 2017 game against Costa Rica, why did they put it in such a small stadium? Red Bull Arena only holds 25,000.

2. When has the United States played a WC qualifier against El Salvador in Washington, DC?

The USSF does make money by the location of friendlies against Latin American opponents, but qualifiers are a different animal. I believe that the last time the United States has played a WC qualifier against a Central American team in Southern California, which is the best place in the United States to draw a big crowd of fans rooting for Central American teams, was 39 years ago.

 

They Played El Salvador in WCQ's at Foxboro twice. I was wrong on the DC claim. Misremembered it.

 

I still attended the tournament.

 

One of those games against El Salvador in Foxboro (in 1997) was after we had already clinched qualification for the World Cup.

 

The US clinched qualification for France 1998 by beating Canada at Swangard Stadium in Burnaby, BC. I watched the game.

 

What you see on social media is not really what happens in the real world. What is said on this post are facts. Attendance for the USOC isn't that great. Viewership numbers are bad too. Most games that were on YT last year you could see how many people were watching each game. It literally said there. Let me just say that there were more people in attendance (which is bad by the way) than people actually watching on YT for some games. This is how much everyone cares about USOC. Messi had to do a lot with it but taking out last year, that is how it normally goes each year for USOC. And it supposedly is picking up in viewership numbers....but the later stages when MLS joins and plays with its first teams. Not before.

 

I was there!