The Leagues Cup & US Open Cup can coexist

Some fans around Major League Soccer are boycotting the Leagues Cup as the league itself continues to frame the competition against the US Open Cup. But why must they be at odds? Both the Leagues Cup and the US Open Cup should be able to exist.

The latest episode of Shades of Blue dives into the discussion about the benefits & problems with both competitions, and how they can coexist. (That conversation starts around the 24:00 mark.)

After the addition of the Leagues Cup into the schedule last season, MLS almost abandoned the historic US Open Cup in 2024. Thankfully it returned, sort of. Last week, Don Garber took the opportunity to hammer home Major League Soccer’s opinion of the Open Cup. It would appear the battle is far from over.

MLS Commissioner Don Garber speaks on the league’s approach to the @opencup moving forward. pic.twitter.com/jDOKtSo2ub

— Eli Lesser (@EliLesserTV) July 24, 2024

The public protests continue around the country from Supporters Groups like the Sons of Ben in Philadelphia and a number of St. Louis City groups.

From the Board Statement regarding the Sons of Ben involvement during Leagues Cup for 2024

Ad Finem Fidelis

Link for PDF: https://t.co/NI8L2bcjbz pic.twitter.com/UuOYIGnw1b

— Sons of Ben (@SonsofBen) July 23, 2024

Throwing away 100+ years of history for a quick buck is not something we will be silent about. The Open Cup means too much to soccer in America and soccer in St. Louis. We stand by our previous statements and will move forward with our boycott of Leagues Cup.#RespectOpenCup pic.twitter.com/vnrb6an9L7

— Fleur de Noise (@fleurdenoise) March 1, 2024

Perhaps the most obvious solution to the schedule congestion, is to change the strict roster rules for Major League Soccer. Increasing the size of a roster would allow managers to rotate players and ease the burden of too many matches.

Should the individual teams have the ability to decide to compete in the US Open Cup? Or maybe if MLS wants to create a new competition, they sacrifice two regular season matches to make it work.

Let us know what you think of the boycotts in the comments. Do you want to see both the Leagues Cup and the US Open Cup exist together?

Check out the full episode of Shades of Blue below.

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